Mystery at the Reunion
by Talespinner69
Summary: Dawn Sharp, the fifteen-year-old daughter of Luna and Sam, goes to a big family reunion, even though she's not looking forward to it due to something that happened three months prior. She has NO idea how bad things will end up getting. (Sequel to/contains spoilers for 'The great Royal Woods inquiry) (Rating subject to change)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Mystery at the Reunion

Chapter one: A big family get together

"Ronnie Anne, are you ready to go?"

"Yes, mom."

"What about you, Lincoln?"

A mixed Caucasian-Hispanic nine-year-old boy with yellow-blonde hair simply nodded in the affirmative as he and his twin sister were being made to get ready for a rather big event that they and their family was going to. The Santiago twins, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne, were both being given the run-down by their mother Lori.

It was clear that the event that they were going to was rather important; although both nine-year-olds were dressed in a casual manner, their respective outfits were still freshly cleaned. Also, both twins were clearly freshly showered, and Ronnie Anne wore something of a mildly annoyed looking scowl, the kind of scowl a child has when they are being made to behave themselves and they do not enjoy it one bit.

Looking around, Lori Santiago said, "Hey kids, do either of you know where Dawn is?"

"Oh, Dawn said that she wasn't going to the family reunion," Lincoln spoke up.

Lori sighed in a resigned, knowing tone; for some reason that has yet to be explained to the extended Loud family, Lori's father, Lynn Sr., learned the truth about the parentage of Dawn Sharp, the older Loud patriarch's oldest grandchild. The reason why this is such a big deal is that Lynn Sr. was never supposed to learn the truth. As a matter of fact, the only ones in the extended family as a whole who were supposed to know the truth were Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn Jr., Lincoln, and their respective spouses. Younger sister Lisa found out when Dawn visited her at the lab where she works, and Lisa's husband David also learned the truth about Dawn, but both scientists agreed to keep it to themselves. As for the rest of the extended Loud clan, none of them would have ever been brought in on it.

…However, Lynn Sr. obtained a printed copy of a file that Lisa had on Dawn, with said file containing various points about Dawn's health, growth and whatnot; it's the kind of file that one could expect to find in a doctor's office. From what the other Loud siblings were able to gather, one of their four sisters who was NOT in on the secret, those being Lucy, Lana, Lola and Lily, got ahold of that copy of the file on Dawn's info and handed it off to the older Loud patriarch. None of the siblings who were originally in the know have any idea which of those four it was; only Lynn Sr. knows, and he refuses to say anything.

To say that the older Loud patriarch was disgusted to learn the truth about Dawn's parentage would be a bit of an understatement. Not only did he bar the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl from ever setting foot in any of his restaurants ever again (that covers pretty much EVERY restaurant in Royal Woods that is not a fast food joint or Odin-Dono's), but he even wrote her out if his will. Likewise, all of the Loud siblings that were in the know, their respective spouses and any children that any of them may have were also written out of Lynn Sr.'s will; this means that only four of Lynn Sr.'s children (out of eleven) and one of his grandchildren (out of nine) are set to inherit anything from him.

But the worst part of all of this is how Dawn has been treated by her grandfather ever since this whole unfortunate mess began; as far as Lynn Sr. is concerned, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl is a freakish abomination that shouldn't even exist, and he's made his new-found contempt for Dawn well known. To say that Dawn didn't hear very much would be an understatement; she has received every imaginable insult under the rainbow from her grandfather, barring the 'c' word and any variation of it.

If there's any saving grace here, it's that the truth of Dawn's parentage is still known only to members of the extended Loud family; the last people outside of the Louds who knew the truth, a pair of highly incompetent fertility clinic doctors, had been reported to have been killed in a prison riot a week before the big family reunion that Lori was getting her family ready to go to. When Lori and some of her sisters heard this, they all had a good laugh; after all, it was the fault of those incompetent morons that all of this was even happening at all.

And all of this, this atrocious behavior of Lynn Sr. towards his oldest grandchild, is actually a somewhat recent development; it started up roughly three months ago, just shortly after the (now former) friends of Lori's brother-in-law Chandler were all arrested after they were found guilty in the cold case of Clyde McBride's murder, which happened sometime before Dawn was even born. A big original Loud family-only meeting was called, and it was there that the older Loud patriarch made his anger, his displeasure, known.

It wouldn't be out-of-character for Lynn Sr. at this point to refer to his children who were in on the truth of Dawn's parentage as 'traitors' for not informing him on the 'abomination' the instant that it became a thing.

Looking at her twin children, Lori said, "You two wait here. I'm going to go find your cousin." Both Santiago twins gave their mother a salute as they saw her head into the hallway of the house where all of the bedrooms are located. Coming upon the door that led into her teenage niece's room, Lori gave it a couple of good knocks. "Dawn, are you ready to go the reunion?" Lori called into the room.

"I'm not going," the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl called back, "That fat bastard is just going to give me hell for something that I have no control over."

Lori, once again, sighed in a resigned tone; this attitude that Dawn was showing had more or less been how she has been acting ever since Lynn Sr. learned the truth. Lori, upon hearing from her son that Dawn didn't want to go to the family reunion, knew right away the reason why Dawn did not want to go; a reason that Lori just heard from her teenage niece's mouth just now. It was a reason that Lori could not blame Dawn for having. Lori also couldn't blame Dawn for insulting Lynn Sr. in such a fashion.

"Dawn, sweetie, I know how you feel," Lori began, "But the entirety of the family is expected to be at the family reunion."

There was no response for a few moments, something that caught the Santiago woman's attention and made her worry. Finally, Dawn called back, "I'm surprised that shitty old man even wants me to come to the family reunion. Or does he think he can make giving me hell a form of entertainment that anyone can get in on?"

Sighing in relief to hear any sort of response from the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl, Lori replied, "Regardless of how he may feel, your grandfather knows full well that all of us are expected to come. Besides which, even if your grandfather were to try to bar you from coming to the family reunion, your grandmother would never let him hear the end of it."

Another saving grace in all of the hell that Lynn Sr. has been causing as of late is that Rita, Lynn Sr.'s wife and the matriarch of the Loud family, still loves and cares about Dawn, as if she never learned the truth; granted, Rita was still rather surprised to learn the truth about the parentage of her oldest grandchild, but that didn't change a thing in the long run as far as Rita was concerned.

"Are you at least dressed?" Lori called into the room, only to get her answer when the door opened, revealing Dawn was standing there. The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl was dressed how she usually was dressed; she had also showered, having done so prior to Lori making her kids get themselves cleaned up.

Giving her teenage niece a quick look over, Lori said, "…Yeah, this will be good enough."

"Do I really have to go?" Dawn asked, clearly sounding like she wouldn't enjoy herself at the event that she was being made to go to.

With a sigh, Lori said, "There's really not much of a choice, Dawn. The big family reunion happens once every five years, and it's one of the few times where me, all ten of my siblings, our respective families and your grandparents are all in one place."

With an indifferent shrug, Dawn remarked, "Sounds like it will be quite the gathering."

"Yes, yes it will," Lori remarked, "In fact, a few people from outside the extended Loud family but are still related to us, such as your Uncle Rocky's older brother Rusty and my sister-in-law Allison, will also be coming." With a bit of a concerned look, Lori added, "Also, your Aunt Allison said she'd be bringing Skoll and Hati with her."

"Maybe they'll stay in the room where all of the kids will be while the adults all talk in the main area of where the reunion will be held?" Dawn suggested.

Pointing to her niece in a commending manner, Lori said, "Yeah, that sounds about right." Without much other fanfare, Lori had Dawn get ready to go to the Loud family reunion. After about a few minutes or so, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl was as ready as she would ever be. The reunion was not something that she was looking forward to.

She had no idea how NOT looking forward to she was going to be about it.

* * *

Lori, her children and Dawn arrived at the hotel where the Loud family reunion was being held; given how big the extended family was, the banquet hall of the hotel was the only place large enough to hold everyone. After Lori had shut off her car and got the kids and Dawn out, they were met up by Bobby Santiago, the husband of Lori, father to the Santiago twins, and the uncle of the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl.

"There you are, Boo-Boo Bear," Lori said as she threw her arms around her husband, "You didn't run into my father yet, have you?"

Gently shaking his head in the negative, Bobby replied, "Not yet, Lori. Is he still giving Dawn flak for something that she has no control over?"

With a shrug, Lori replied, "There's no changing how small-minded people think, dear." Looking around the perimeter of the parking lot of the hotel, Lori spotted a few cars that she did not recognize, as well as the fact that leaning against each of those cars was a person with a high end camera for taking pictures. "…I see that the paparazzi has already started to flock over here," the Santiago woman remarked, a hint of worry in her tone.

"Well what did you expect, Lori?" Bobby said, "Your sister Luna and her wife are both famous rock stars, not to mention the fact that your sister Lynn is married to a professional athlete. At least three celebrity-level people in one place is bound to attract people wanting to get a scoop that would earn them a payday."

"That's not why I'm worried," Lori replied. Getting up onto her tiptoes, Lori whispered into her husband's ear, "What if one of them finds out about the truth of Dawn's parentage?"

With a mild look of realization spreading across his face, the Santiago man looked his wife in the eyes. "Ah, now I see," Bobby said. Gently patting his beloved wife on her left shoulder, Bobby continued, "Well don't worry, Lori. That won't be something that anyone in the family will say to anyone outside of the family."

The Santiago woman nodded once in response to her husband's words; she was still unsure about if the secret she wants to keep will remain a secret, but given the circumstances, she saw that she didn't have any other choice but to put her faith in her family, biological, extended or otherwise. Putting her trust in her family was something that Lori, given that the truth of Dawn's parentage had been leaked to Lynn Sr., found herself having reservations about doing.

Lori was about to speak up, but she was cut off before she could even get a single word out when she heard a familiar female voice call out. Likewise, Bobby, Dawn and the Santiago twins also looked over in the same direction as Lori. When they did, they saw Leni, Lori's younger sister and the one who had called out, come walking over to them. She was accompanied by Aggro, her husband, and their daughter Asagi.

The young Ace girl, currently seven years of age, wore a white long-sleeved sailor girl blouse, a common staple in the uniforms worn by schoolgirls in Japan. The cuffs at the ends of the sleeves, as well as the sailor-style collar, the ribbon worn under said collar, and the skirt (which reached Asagi's knees) were all seafoam green in color. The seven-year-old Ace girl also wore a pair of brown loafer shoes and a pair of baggy socks. Like her mother, Asagi also wore glasses.

"It's been a while, Lori!" Leni said as she walked up to her older sister and drew her into a hug. Letting Lori go, the fashionable sister asked, "How have you been?"

"It's…been something of a touch and go experience over the last couple of months," Lori replied, a bit of concern in her tone. The Santiago woman turned her attention to her niece, taking note of her choice of outfit. "That's a really cute dress you're wearing, Asagi," Lori remarked, "It's nice to see that you dressed up for the family reunion."

Asagi, upon receiving praise for her appearance, shied back a bit. "Umm, well," the seven-year-old Ace girl began in something of a stammer, poking the ends of her index fingers together as she looked a bit nervous, "This dress is a customary outfit for girls attending schools over where Grandpa Shigure was born and raised."

Aggro, with a bit of an amused look on his face, remarked, "Yeah, me and Leni's daughter has taken after me in regards to respecting and embracing our Japanese heritage. She even knows enough Japanese to hold casual conversations with other fluent speakers, although her skills in the language aren't quite as strong as mine or Dawn's." With a single nod that showed a fair bit of confidence, the Swedish-Japanese man said, "But I have no doubt that Asagi will master the language soon. At most, she should have it down before entering middle school."

Lori and Bobby were both impressed to hear that their seven-year-old niece had more fluency in a foreign language than most other kids in her age group living in the United States. Lori and Bobby's twin children are likewise skilled in speaking Spanish, with Lincoln being slightly better at it than his twin sister. As for Dawn, who pushed herself into gaining fluency in Japanese due to her devotion to manga and anime, she found it amusing to see that there was one other person in the extended Loud family who spoke Japanese. Also, Asagi looked downright adorable in that sailor fuku dress.

"Oh, before I forget," Leni said to Lori and Bobby, "I received a call from Lucy's husband Rocky, telling us that his older brother Rusty was coming."

"Rusty?" Lori repeated, the hint in her tone suggesting that what she had just heard didn't sound like the best idea in the world, "I mean, only our parents, our siblings, ourselves, the respective spouses of us and our siblings AND any respective children are expected to come. Rusty is only an in-law, and given how dad exploded a few months ago and that his temper is still a bit high, I literally don't think that Rusty coming to the reunion would be a good idea."

Holding up a hand in a gesture to cut off any further argument, Aggro explained, "I understand that you have reservations about Rusty's appearance here at the reunion, Lori. But he doesn't have much of a choice. Besides which, he's giving Lucy and Rocky a lift, PLUS he's helping to handle Randy-kun."

Pointing to his brother-in-law, Bobby said while facing Lori, "Aggro's got a point, Lori. Besides which, given how steamed your dad is right now, I don't think that he can get any MORE steamed at this point, all things considered."

"Hopefully Rusty won't try to soak up media attention by going over to the paparazzi to try and give them quote unquote 'exclusive interviews with a relative of a famous person'," Lori said as she made quotation marks in the air with her fingers. Sighing in a tone that was a mix of annoyed and frustrated, the Santiago woman continued, "I still remember the damage he did back when Luna and Sam visited back when Dawn had her eleventh birthday."

Dawn, having remembered the time that her Aunt Lori was talking about, wore a look of bemused dryness on her face. "…Please don't remind me about Uncle Rusty's past attempts at trying to gain fame," the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl remarked, "All of those paparazzi outside of the house made my eleventh birthday one of the most frightening birthdays I ever had, and one of the most frightening days of my life overall."

"Yeah, Rocky and Lucy still haven't forgiven me for that," a male voice called out, making everyone turn to see Rusty Spokes, who was carrying a baby care bag, come walking over. Walking behind the older Spokes brother was his younger brother Rocky, as well as Rocky's wife (slash Lori's younger sister) Lucy, who was carrying a small infant in her arms. The baby wore a pale light orange onesie, little orange socks with faint black stirpes on them, and an orange beanie with black stripes and a black little poof ball on top; the beanie was down so that it covered the baby's eyes.

Holding his free hand up in the air, Rusty declared, "Now am I uncle of the year or what?"

"You tried giving pop rocks to Randy," Lucy said in a dry monotone to her husband's brother, "That, plus the aforementioned incident back when Dawn turned eleven, leaves you with a LOT of work to do if you really want to be 'uncle of the year', as you have so colorfully put it."

"Lucy's got a point," Aggro remarked to Rusty, "You ought to try to rein in your more, umm, eccentric qualities, while you're here at the family reunion."

With an indifferent shrug, Rusty said, "Given how steamed Lincoln's dad is right now, I don't think there's a lot that I can do to make things worse."

"That…" Lori began, but she stopped short when she realized that Rusty had essentially just repeated the point that Bobby had previously made (albeit in his own way). Begrudgingly, the Santiago woman said, "Just make sure you leave that baby bag for Randy in the room that is going to be set aside for the children in the family to play around in until the main festivities of the reunion begins."

Nodding in agreement, Rusty said, "I'm going to have to follow someone who knows where that room is in order to get there, but it shouldn't be any problem." Looking like he had suddenly remembered something big, Rusty said to Lori, Leni and their respective families, "You guys, as me, Rocky, Lucy and their kid made our way in, we passed Lincoln, Ronnie Anne and their twins." With a bit of a chuckle, the older Spokes brother said, "Although this might sound a bit mean, Ronnie Anne looks like she's recently become all buddy-buddy with a bakery."

"Hey now, Rusty," Bobby began, a firm hint of seriousness in his tone, "That's my little sister that you're talking about."

"More like _bigger_ sister, if you know what I mean," Rusty replied, "Get it?"

Sighing in a frustrated tone, Lori said, "Only Luan is allowed to make terrible jokes like that, Rusty, so please drop the subject."

With an indifferent shrug, Rusty agreed to drop the matter before he followed Rocky and Lucy to the hotel where the Loud family reunion was being held. Sighing in a resigned tone, Lori turned to face Bobby and said, "As insensitive as Rusty was being, he does have a point about how your sister's weight has gone up."

"The crap storm that's been happening ever since your dad found out the truth about Dawn has caused the extended family as a whole some degree of stress," Bobby pointed out, "It's just that all of us have had different ways of coping with said stress. If it helps, at least Ronnie Anne hasn't dealt with said stress like she would have back when she was eleven."

"Dad, I'm only nine," Ronnie Anne said as she looked up at her dad.

Patting his twin sister on the shoulder to get her attention, Lincoln said, "Dad's talking about Aunt Ronnie Anne, not you."

"Your brother's right, sweetie," Lori said to her daughter, "Your father and I are talking about your aunt that we named you after."

The mixed Hispanic-Caucasian girl, with a look of dawning realization on her face, replied as she nodded once, "Oh, okay." Looking back up at her parents, Ronnie Anne said, "Aunt Ronnie Anne's pretty tough, not to mention pretty cool as well."

Bobby, with an amused laugh, said, "Well I'm glad to hear that you have such a high opinion of your aunt, young lady." Turning to face Lori, Leni and Aggro, the Santiago man said, "Anyway, I think that it's about high time that we get everyone here inside for the family reunion."

"Do I really have to go?" Dawn asked her aunts and uncles, the hint of whining in the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl's tone making it clear that she was by no means looking forward to having to attend the Loud family reunion.

"Dawn," Aggro began in a sympathetic tone, "I know that, over the past three months, your grandfather has been going above and beyond to make things difficult for you. Which is why, I believe, there is all the more reason for you to go to the reunion." The Swedish-Japanese man, with his hands on his hips, looked at his fifteen-year-old niece, giving her a wry look of amusement. "You failing to appear at the family reunion will only give your grandfather more ammunition to throw at you," Aggro said, "Go to the reunion. Show your grandfather that you will not roll over and admit defeat."

Dawn, upon hearing her Uncle Aggro say his piece, was taken aback somewhat. As always, Aggro knew just what to say to give the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl the push that she needed in order to go into the right direction. Granted, the road ahead of Dawn is going to be a rather long one for her, no thanks to Lynn Sr. But with the rest of the family (essentially) behind her, Dawn felt that she might just be able to make it out of the tunnel she found herself in, to see the light that was at the end for her.

It's been a while since she saw much light in that regard.

END, CHAPTER ONE

Author's notes:

I know that a lot of named characters appeared in this chapter, even though this is only chapter one. And even MORE named characters will show up in the next one; given that this story has the setting for a family reunion involving the Louds and the respective families of all eleven of the Loud siblings, that is something to be expected. And given what will be taking place in the next chapter, having a fairly big cast is something of a necessity. Anyway, this story is set roughly three months after the end of 'The great Royal Woods inquiry', so overall about nine months have passed in-universe since Dawn found out the truth of her parentage.

But more on that later. Without further delay, I'll be leaving you off here. See you all next time.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Mystery at the Reunion

Chapter two: A terrible happening

Dawn Sharp found herself in the room that was set aside for the children of the families of the adult Loud siblings. Aside from the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl, the only other people in the room that had an age with more than one digit were Dawn's Aunt Lucy, who was currently cradling her (Lucy's) infant son Randy in her arms, and Dawn's Aunt Ronnie Anne, who was keeping an eye on her twin one-year-olds, son Bobby and daughter Lori.

With a chuckle upon considering the notion again, Dawn realized she still found it very amusing that her Aunt Lori and Uncle Bobby named their kids after her Uncle Lincoln and Aunt Ronnie Anne, while Uncle Lincoln and Aunt Ronnie Anne named _their_ kids after Uncle Bobby and Aunt Lori. And if what she believed was correct, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl wasn't the only one in the whole of the extended family who was amused by this notion.

Dawn also gave her Hispanic aunt some consideration as well; when Dawn had last seen her Aunt Ronnie Anne, the Hispanic woman had a noticeably fuller body. But as things stand right now, the remarks that Uncle Rusty had made earlier before everyone got into the hotel seemed to hold some degree of validity, as Ronnie Anne seemed to be fast approaching the three-hundred pound mark, assuming that she had not yet reached that mark already.

Looking around, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl also saw all of her younger cousins; naturally there were the aforementioned three-month-old Randy and one-year-old twins Bobby and Lori. And Dawn came to the Loud family reunion with her nine-year-old cousins Lincoln and Ronnie Anne, the latter of which was sticking close to the side of her aunt who she was named after, as the younger Ronnie Anne more or less idolized the adult Ronnie Anne.

But things didn't end there; Dawn saw her seven-year-old cousin Asagi Ace, the daughter of Uncle Aggro and Aunt Leni, sitting off to the side while reading a fantasy novel that looked to be somewhat advanced for a child her age. Lynn, the five-year-old son of Uncle Benny and Aunt Luan who was named after his Aunt Lynn, was looking up at Aunt Lucy as she cradled Randy. And Haldor, the six-year-old son of the aforementioned Aunt Lynn and her husband, Uncle Ulfric, was likewise looking up at Aunt Lucy. Dawn figured that the kids were just curious about the newest member of the extended Loud family.

"Hey, Dawn," Lucy said, getting her teenage niece to turn to look at her. The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl was a bit surprised when Lucy, without even telling her beforehand, proceeded to hand Randy off to her. "I need you to keep a hold on Randy while I go use the bathroom," the gothic woman explained. Shooting a quick aside glance to her young nephews that were both looking up at her, Lucy returned her look to Dawn before saying, "Also, none of the kids are allowed to hold Randy just yet. I'd prefer it if only you and the adults in the family did that."

Dawn understood her gothic aunt's feelings on the matter, and was more than willing to listen. As it stood, Dawn wouldn't consider letting any of her younger cousins hold little Randy anyway, given that he is less than half a year old; little Randy was actually approximately one-fourth of a year old, if Dawn's math was correct (it usually was, as the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl tends to excel in her various academic subjects).

After Lucy had left what has been more or less dubbed 'the kiddy room', Dawn cradled Randy in her arms for a few seconds before Aunt Ronnie Anne sat down next to her. "So Dawn," Ronnie Anne began, "My brother tells me that you've been trying to deal with how your grandfather has been treating you over the last couple of months. How are you holding up, sweetie?"

With a mildly resigned sigh, Dawn said, "To be honest, I have some choice words for that old man, most of which aren't good to say in front of any of my younger cousins." The well-rounded Hispanic woman nodded a few times, knowing what her teenaged niece was getting at. The adult Ronnie Anne was about to say something, but before she could even get a word out, her niece who was named after her spoke up.

"I've been meaning to ask, Aunt Ronnie," the younger Ronnie Anne said, "Why does Grandpa Lynn hate Dawn so much now?"

Sighing, the adult Ronnie Anne looked down to her mixed-race niece. "Listen, mini-me," the older Ronnie Anne began, "That isn't exactly something appropriate that me and the other adults in the whole of the extended family can necessarily talk to you and the other kids about. At some point later on down the line, us adults might be able to break the matter to you and the other kids. But for now, we're going to have to ask that you kids not ask about this anymore."

"I told you she would say that, Ronnie Anne!" the voice of kid Ronnie Anne's twin brother Lincoln called out.

Turning around to face the direction that her twin brother's shout came from, the younger Ronnie Anne shouted back, "No one likes a know-it-all, Dork-o!" Immediately after that insult left the younger Ronnie Anne's lips, the older Ronnie Anne gave her niece a bop on the head.

"Be nice to your brother, mini-me," the well-rounded Hispanic woman said to her niece in a scolding tone. The younger Ronnie Anne, feeling mildly ashamed that she was scolded by who was undoubtedly her favorite aunt, sulked a bit and wandered off to try and more or less pester her cousin Asagi. While the two young girls were conversing, the older Ronnie Anne turned to face Dawn. "I assume you usually have to break up spats between your cousins at home?" the older Ronnie Anne asked.

With a single nod in the affirmative, Dawn remarked, "It beats me why she likes to mess with her brother so much. From what Uncle Lincoln has said when he saw things once, little Ronnie Anne messes with little Lincoln similar to how Uncle Lincoln said Aunt Lynn used to mess with him when they were still growing up."

Scowling a bit, Ronnie Anne said, "Yeah, I still don't like how Lynn treated her brother."

"I'm a boy and only child," the five-year-old Lynn said, getting both Ronnie Anne and Dawn to look down at him and Haldor.

"I was talking about your Aunt Lynn, not you," Ronnie Anne explained to her young nephew. With a sigh, the well-rounded Hispanic woman said, "Geez, maybe having so many people in the family named after one another may not be so good of a thing after all."

Shrugging, Dawn remarked, "At least we don't have to remember as many names."

"Yeah," Ronnie Anne began, "But now we have to remember how many people in the extended family share the same-" Ronnie Anne was cut off when the doors leading into 'the kiddy room' were thrown open, prompting Ronnie Anne, Dawn and all of the kids (aside from all babies, who were asleep at the time) to turn and look to see who it was. As such, they all saw Rusty Spokes walk into 'the kiddy room'.

Heading over to where Dawn and Ronnie Anne were sitting, the older Spokes brother said as he jerked a thumb over his right shoulder, "Hey Ronnie Anne, you're wanted over in the dining hall where all the tables are being set up."

Giving (who was technically) her brother-in-law a curious look, Ronnie Anne asked, "Why? Is the banquet about to start?"

"No, it's just some adult-only gathering for Lincoln, all of his sisters, their parents and the respective spouses of Lincoln and his sisters," Rusty explained. Gesturing to Ronnie Anne, the older Spokes brother continued, "Seeing as how you're Lincoln's spouse, you need to get your butt over there pronto."

"What about you, Uncle Rusty?" Dawn asked, getting Rusty to regard her.

With a shrug, Rusty said, "Your grandpa made it quite clear to me that I'm technically not even supposed to be here, and is only allowing it since I was brought along to help handle Randy." With a look of mild curiosity on his face, Rusty added, "Also, your grandpa had said something along the lines of how he doesn't trust you alone with all of your cousins. My guess is that he doesn't think that one teen girl on her own can handle eight kids, three of which are babies."

Dawn and Ronnie Anne alike both had a feeling that Lynn Sr.'s lack of trust in his oldest granddaughter has nothing to do with her ability to look after a large number of children on her own, although they had to admit that the reason Rusty came up with holds a great degree of logic and reasoning. After a few formalities were exchanged between the two of them, Ronnie Anne got up and had Rusty take her place in helping to look after the kids before she left to go to the dining hall, where the adults of the Loud family would be.

After Ronnie Anne left, closing the doors behind her, Rusty sat down next to Dawn. "Yo, Dawn, let me try to hold Randy," Rusty said as he reached over to try and collect his infant nephew. However, the moment that Rusty's hands started to scoop him up, Randy began squirming and making whining noises that made it clear he did not want his uncle to hold him.

"No offence, Uncle Rusty," Dawn said as the older Spokes brother immediately got the message from his infant nephew and promptly withdrew his hands, "But I'm pretty sure that Randy is still uncomfortable with anyone other than a select few people holding him."

Sulking in ashamed defeat, Rusty said, "I get that, Dawn."

* * *

The dining hall in the hotel was set up for what looked to be a great dinner event for a fairly large number of people. But then again, the phrase 'fairly large number of people' is a perfect way to describe the extended Loud family. The immediate Loud family, those being Lynn Sr., his wife Rita, and all eleven of their adult children, is on its own already noticeably big for a family. And all of the adult Loud siblings, with the exception of twenty-two-year-old Lily (who came without her love interest Carlitos Casagrande), had families of their own. The Louds were very much indeed a large family.

One that none of them would trade for the world.

"So Carlitos is over in Great Lakes City visiting his sister Carlota," Lisa remarked as she and her husband David talked with Lily.

Nodding once in the affirmative, Lily said while unknowingly brushing her right hand over a ring on her left ring finger, "Yeah, he couldn't make it. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure dad would have had no problem letting Carlitos come to the family reunion."

Crossing his arms over his chest, David said, "Given how your and Lisa's father looked close to bursting when he saw Rocky's older brother here, I highly doubt that he would have permitted Carlitos entry into the family reunion. Carlitos is only your fiancé right now, so he isn't a solid member of the extended family just yet."

Turning to face her husband, Lisa said, "I wouldn't be so sure, David." With a hint of knowing dryness entering her tone, the genius Loud sister continued, "Given how my father has been favoring Lily, Lola, Lana and Lucy over me and the rest of my siblings as of late, I think that he might have been willing to consider making an exception for Lily's fiancé."

Lily growled a bit in frustration, having caught onto and understanding the tone her scientist older sister had used. It still beat the youngest adult Loud sibling why most of her older siblings have seemingly turned on her, Lola, Lana and Lucy, or at the very least view the four of them with a high degree of suspicion. In fact, Lily suspected that the only reason why all of her older siblings were still being so nice to Lucy is because the gothic woman had very recently given birth to the newest addition to the large, extended family.

…

The conversation between Lily, Lisa and David wasn't the only one going on in the dining hall; many of the adults were conversing amongst themselves. One such example was Ronnie Anne, who was talking to Lola and Lana.

Given the nature of how things tended to go at a Loud family reunion, Lola had opted to wear something more casual than her usual lovely dresses. The pageant-winning Loud woman wore a pink t-shirt, light blue women's jeans, and women's shoes. As for Lana, she wore what was basically the outfit she usually sported as a six-year-old, but one that was sized to fit her now adult self. Lana even still wore a red baseball hat, although the original one was lost due to a mix of wear and tear, also it got lost.

Regarding her pink-wearing sister-in-law, who wore something of an annoyed scowl, Ronnie Anne said, "And what's gotten your panties in a bunch, Lola?"

Lola was about to explain, but Lana decided to beat her younger twin sister to the punch. Jerking a thumb at Lola, Lana said, "She's been banging Winston practically every night ever since he got back from Hollywood a week ago in the hopes that he'll get her pregnant."

"You're still trying to become a mother?" Ronnie Anne asked, a mildly curious look on her face as she regarded Lola.

"Well why wouldn't I want that?" Lola began to explain, "I mean, I can just tell that now is the right time for me and Winston to try and have our first kid." Sighing in a tone that had a mild hint of defeat, the pageant-winning woman said, "Now you see why I wanted to volunteer to go and keep an eye on the kids until the adults-only part of the reunion started."

Ronnie Anne couldn't help but let out a bit of an amused chuckle. Even though she and most of the other adults in the family had suspicions towards Lola, Lana, Lucy and Lily, Ronnie Anne found it rather admirable that Lola was so dedicated to having a child. She had no doubt that Lola would make for one hell of a mother. Reaching forward to give Lola a pat on her shoulder, the well-rounded Hispanic woman said, "Just to give you fair warning Lola, getting pregnant will do a number on your body, which I'm pretty sure you need for your pageantry career."

"Like I said to others before when they pointed that out," Lola began, "I can simply work off the weight I gain in that time after I have a kid." Giving her sister-in-law a mildly wry look, Lola added, "Besides, Ronnie Anne. I don't think you're in much of a position to say anything about _me_ ruining _my_ body."

"Oh, here we go," Ronnie Anne said in a mildly exasperated tone, knowing full well where this was going.

Gesturing to the well-rounded Hispanic woman, Lola said, "I'm surprised that you were able to find pants in your size. I thought that wouldn't be possible given how big and fat your butt is."

Pointing to Lola in an accusing manner, Ronnie Anne said, "Well I'll have you know that I have no problem with my big fat butt." Suddenly, Ronnie Anne had a bit of a mischievous thought. With an amused smirk on her face, the well-rounded Hispanic woman continued, "Your brother also has no problem with it, either."

Lola, her eyes widening in some manner of horror, could not respond to Ronnie Anne's rebuttal right away. Lana, on the other hand, had an amused smirk as she listened to the conversation that was unfolding right in front of her. "Yeah, Lola," Ronnie Anne said with a hint of mischievous amusement in her tone as she gently rubbed one of her hands over her considerable rear end, "Lincoln is actually rather fond of my butt, if you know what I mean."

"Please stop," Lola said, her tone barely above whispering level due to how shocked and horrified she was about how this conversation was going. As for Lana, she was finding great difficulty in keeping from bursting out with laughter.

With a shrug, Ronnie Anne said, "Fine. Suit yourself, princess. I'm going to go over and see if there's anything available to get from the caterers yet." The well-rounded Hispanic woman began to walk off, but she suddenly stopped short, walked up to Lola, and leaned in closely to tell her something. "…You now have the mental image of your older brother having a great time enjoying my big fat butt," Ronnie Anne whispered into Lola's ear before pulling back, giving Lola a pat on her shoulder, and leaving her there to process what she had just been told. The look of absolute horror on Lola's face that Ronnie Anne saw was absolutely priceless. Ronnie Anne decided that she had done enough, and proceeded to go check in with the caterers.

The adult Loud twins continued to stand there, with Lola's right eye twitching a bit. Without turning to face her twin, Lana said in a casual tone, "Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle." That remark from Lana prompted Lola to scream, clutching the sides of her head as she did so. As Lola screamed, Lana's amused smirk only grew.

…

Over near the catering tables, Lori and her husband Bobby found themselves talking to Lori's younger sister Leni and her husband Aggro. The four of them were all dressed as they normally were; Aggro even had the cloth carrying case that held his bokken, Morning Sun, over his back. As the four adults walked near the catering tables, Aggro sniffed about the air a bit. "Hey Leni," Aggro began, "Did your father get a Mexican place to cater the family reunion?"

"I don't know," Leni replied before she gave the air a sniff as well. After considering the smells a bit, Leni said, "But I can see why you'd ask that."

"Our dad literally got a number of places here in Royal Woods to cater the family reunion, given how big of a family we've become over the years," Lori explained to Leni, "I'm guessing that a Mexican restaurant is one of the places."

"Hey Lori," Bobby began, "I'm surprised that your father isn't bothering to handle all of the catering himself. He _is_ one of the premier chefs in Royal Woods, isn't he?"

Nodding in agreement, Lori said, "That's true, Bobby. However, me and Leni's father is in his sixties, which would things difficult for him if he were to handle the cooking for the _entirety_ of the extended family." With an annoyed growl, Lori added, "It doesn't stop him from trying to make Dawn's life a literal living hell, though."

Bobby and Aggro both sighed in knowing tones, as both of them had seen Lori vent in such a manner many times in the past three months, ever since Lynn Sr. had learned the truth about Dawn's parentage. Placing a hand on his wife's shoulder, Bobby said in a sympathetic tone, "Lori, your dad is just being an idiot. Eventually, he'll realize that he's screwing up royally and before you know it, he'll be apologizing to Dawn."

"I hope you're right, Bobby," Lori replied, concern clear in her tone. As the four of them ended their conversation, they turned their attention to the catering tables, which carried a wide variety of foods from many different places. Some of the caterers came from the various restaurants in Lynn Sr.'s empire of restaurants in Royal Woods, but a few of them were from other places, like the aforementioned Mexican restaurant that was helping to cater.

"Wow," Bobby remarked to Lori, Leni and Aggro, "I haven't seen food from a Mexican place since Juan Jean's went out of business years ago due to being unable to keep up with the places that Mr. Loud has."

"Dad's restaurants drove a lot of places in Royal Woods not under his umbrella out of business," Lori pointed out, "In fact, I'm pretty sure the only major restaurant that my dad didn't drive out of business is the place Aggro's family owns."

Nodding a few times in confirmation, Aggro explained, "We're the only place in Royal Woods that serves both Swedish and Japanese food." Regarding both Lori and Leni, the male Ace twin said, "Your father has apparently realized this, given that he has tried multiple times over the past year and a half to buy Odin-Dono's from my family, as he apparently lacks knowledge over dishes from Sweden and Japan."

Scoffing in an annoyed tone, Lori said, "Well I hope that you and the rest of your family don't give in to me and Leni's dad. Given how he's been acting over the last three months, the last thing that I want to see is him scoring any sort of win." Leni, Bobby and Aggro all nodded in agreement with Lori. Aggro especially, as his family's restaurant has been in the Ace family for well over twenty-five years by this point. Time like that is not something that one can very easily sell off to a buyer.

* * *

Dawn, needing to use the restroom, had to leave her Uncle Rusty alone with all of the cousins. Having finished her business, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl proceeded to return to 'the kiddy room', given that the eating part of the family reunion's banquet hadn't started yet. As Dawn was wondering if her bastard grandfather would even allow her to join the dining (given how the older Loud patriarch has been acting towards her over the past three months or so, Dawn would not put it past him), she had the misfortune to bump into the man himself.

Seeing his teenage granddaughter in the hallway, Lynn Sr. sneered, "What the hell are you doing out here, girl? I didn't say the banquet started yet."

"I was coming back from using the bathroom," Dawn explained, being entirely truthful. The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl's tone was without emotion; it was reminiscent of the monotone that Lisa is known for using commonly. "I was on my way back to where my cousins were playing around at," Dawn continued, "It's just that you stopped me on my way there."

"Feh," the older Loud patriarch scoffed as he walked around Dawn, "Always looking for an excuse, aren't you, girl?" Walking down the end of the hall opposite of the direction that Dawn was heading in, Lynn Sr. said, "Just be sure to keep your distance from me. The last thing I want is to be in close proximity to an abomination like you."

Dawn kept her expression dry and monotone, not showing any sort of emotion. Even so, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl would have liked nothing more than to break down and cry, lest her grandfather hear any sign that his attempts to break her are working. If there was any solace to what had just happened, it was that Dawn wasn't the only witness to her grandfather's latest berating of her.

Dawn's aunts Lynn and Luan, who were coming back from their respective vehicles at the time, were the main examples in this regard. Instinctively, the two of them walked up to their fifteen-year-old niece. "Yo, Dawn," Lynn said as she reached her niece, "Sorry that your grandpa is being a right proper bastard to you again."

"He's really starting to get on my nerves with how he's been acting over the last three months," Luan remarked, gently shaking her head in a manner to convey disgust and shame.

Gently shaking her head, Dawn said, "It doesn't really matter. So I have one relative who hates my guts for something that I have no control over." With a shrug, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl continued, "I mean, every single one of all of my other relatives still likes me, including my other grandparent, so I figure that's as much of a win as I can get at this point. I shouldn't have to lose any sleep at night because Grandpa Lynn is trying to be my personal boogeyman."

Both of Dawn's aunts who were there nodded in agreement, amazed by the wisdom that their niece was showing. Lynn even got a bit of a chuckle out of how Dawn referred to the man that she (Lynn) was named after as a boogeyman. Although both the athletic and comedic women were still concerned for their granddaughter's wellbeing given how she is currently being given crap by her grandfather, they were nonetheless proud of her for not letting her tormentor gain any sort of ground on her.

"Well anyway," Dawn said to her aunts, "I have to get back to where all of the kids are at."

"Make sure little Lynn and his cousin behave themselves, alright?" Luan asked.

With a bit of a chuckle, Dawn replied, "I read you loud and clear, Aunt Luan." The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl walked around her aunts to make her way back to 'the kiddy room'. After Dawn was gone, Lynn and Luan turned to face each other. They were still concerned with how their teenage niece was doing, and their father's latest attack on the poor girl should have still done some degree of damage to her. Lynn and Luan, being the good aunts that they were, figured that they ought to inform at least some their siblings about what they had just witnessed. All that the two of them hoped is that those who they were going to talk to would keep level heads.

* * *

"Are you bleed'in kidding me?!" Luna scowled in a harsh tone as she, along with her wife Sam, were talking privately with Lynn, Luan and Lori. Letting out a very steamed growl, the brunette-haired musician said, "What the hell is that old man's problem? He does know that the girl that he's being a total ass to is one of his _granddaughters_, doesn't he?!"

Sighing in a resigned tone, Lori remarked, "Luna, you're literally forgetting the fact that Dawn's true parentage is a highly taboo matter. Regardless of how rare a gem your and Sam's daughter is, there will always be people who will never accept and even outright reject her simply because of that truth." With a hint of a scowl entering her own expression, Lori continued, "Which is why one of our sisters who wasn't supposed to be in on things is dead meat when we find out which one of them is the one who found out and told dad."

Lori was about to go off on a tangent when Lynn, who stood on her older sister's right, placed a hand on her right shoulder, getting her o calm down a bit and turn to look at her. "As much as I myself would like to give the responsible sister a good trashing," the athletic woman began, "We can't go acting all belligerent and whatnot. At the very least, we owe it to our family to try and figure everything out, including _why_ the sister who found out and told dad did what she did."

The other adult Loud sisters, as well as Sam, all regarded Lynn with mildly surprised looks. "Wow, brah," Luna remarked, "You sounded a lot like our bro just know."

"I'm surprised that Lynn not only knows the word 'belligerent'," Luan commented, "But also how to use it correctly." Turning to regard Lori, the comedic woman said with a clearly amused smirk, "I think that you can _literally_ learn a thing or two from Lynn in that regard, Lori." Lynn, Luna and Sam all started chuckling a bit at Luan's joke. Lori scowled at first, but even she eventually started to laugh a bit. After all, if you can't laugh at yourself, what can you laugh at?

* * *

Dawn was getting a bit concerned when she checked the time on her phone. From what she remembered Aunt Lori saying, Dawn felt that the banquet should have started already. But then again, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl remembered being told that the banquet wouldn't begin until Grandpa Lynn gave the cue for it. However, even that shitty old man wouldn't have taken _this_ long in giving the cue to begin the banquet.

Looking around 'the kiddy room', Dawn saw that the baby twins Lori and Bobby were fast asleep, as was the youngest baby Randy. As for the kids that were old enough to have personal autonomy, they were all either playing with each other or listening to the (heavily embellished) story that Uncle Rusty was currently telling. Figuring that things would be able to hold like this long enough for her to do a quick check, Dawn got up and left 'the kiddy room', giving people who asked what she was doing the excuse that she had to use the restroom again.

As she made her way down one of the hallways in the hotel where the Loud family reunion was being held, Dawn passed by a few people. She saw some of the hotel's employees, a few of the people hired to help cater the Loud family reunion, and even some of her older aunts, who were the only ones that stopped Dawn, although it was just to say hello. Eventually, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl turned a corner to head down a hallway where one could find some bathrooms and a few janitorial closets.

Not having been in this part of the hotel yet, Dawn figured that it might be a good place to look around. Maybe her bastard grandfather was using one of the restrooms that were located in this hallway. That made a lot of sense to Dawn, even though she thought about why Grandpa Lynn didn't go for one of the bathrooms that were located closer to the dining hall where the banquet was being held. Dawn would have given the matter some more thought, but she was having a bit of trouble thinking due to smelling a strong, metallic odor coming from somewhere.

The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl thought that it must have been one of the hotel employees spilling some sort of cleaning agent that they used for cleaning up messes in the hotel, but she stopped short and let out a loud, horrified, frightened yelp when she saw a puddle of warm rich crimson seep out from under the bottom crack of one of the janitorial closet doors. "Holy crap, there's blood coming out from under that door!" Dawn exclaimed at the top of her lungs.

Although she had no control over her actions in that brief moment, Dawn's shout did have the benefit of summoning the attention of a few members of the hotel staff, including the manager. "Young lady," the hotel manager began in a serious tone, "What are you going on about while the other people staying at the holy crap there's blood coming out from under that door!" The hotel manager deviated midsentence when he spotted the very thing that made Dawn freak.

"What do you think I was shouting about?!" Dawn snapped at the hotel manager as she pointed at the blood, "How do you explain that?!"

Turing to face some of the employees working at the hotel, the hotel manager said, "I need someone to contact the police right away." Turning to face Dawn, the hotel manager said, "As for you, young lady, you might want to back off now. I'm about to open that door to see what exactly is stuffed inside and bleeding out."

Scoffing in a 'no shit Sherlock' kind of tone, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl replied, "You don't need to tell me twice!"

…

Within a few minutes, some officers from the RWPD showed up, along with a few crime scene investigators. Dawn sat on a chair in a hallway that forks into the hallway where the bleeding door was found. She sat down in that chair before the hotel manager opened the door, but she was able to hear some of the hotel employees cry out in alarm as the sound of something thumping onto the floor could be heard, right before the hotel manager shouted, "It's a dead body! There's been a murder!"

It was bad enough that Dawn happened upon the scene of a murder. To make matters worse for the poor girl was when she was approached by one of the police officers, a woman with blonde hair pulled into a bun on the back of her head. To Dawn's further worry, the woman officer was accompanied by Dawn's uncles Bobby and Aggro. Gesturing to Dawn, Bobby said to the woman officer, "Yeah, there she is, Officer Reagan. That's me and Aggro's niece Dawn."

Nodding in understanding to the two men, the woman officer, apparently identified ad Officer Reagan, approached Dawn. "Young lady, I'm going to have to ask you a few questions about the fact that a dead body was found in one of the janitorial closets in the hotel," Officer Reagan said to the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl. As she took out a small notepad and a pencil, Officer Reagan began, "Could you tell me what you were doing in the hallway where the blood was found?"

"I was trying to find my grandfather," Dawn explained, "You see, me and my uncles here are part of the family that's having our family reunion here, and there's supposed to be this big banquet thing where all of us go to the one dining hall to eat, but it doesn't start until Grandpa Lynn says so, and it was way past the time a lot of us were expecting him to give the cue, so I thought I'd look for him."

As Dawn gave her explanation to the woman officer, both Bobby and Aggro exchanged uncomfortable looks with each other. Likewise, Officer Reagan had a bit of concern flash across her face briefly. None of this had gone by the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl unnoticed. "Umm, is there something the matter Uncle Bobby?" Dawn asked. Turning to look at Aggro and then the officer in that order, Dawn continued, "Uncle Aggro? Miss Officer?"

Sucking in a breath, Officer Reagan said as she turned to face Bobby and Aggro, "You two are her uncles. Do you want to tell her or do you two want to leave that to me?"

"I believe it's best that she hears it from family, Officer," Aggro replied before walking up to Dawn. Standing before his teenage niece, the male Ace twin sighed in a resigned, troubled tone before he spoke. "Dawn," Aggro began, "There's no easy way to tell you this. Hell, there isn't going to be any easy way to break this to anyone in the family. So I'll just be making it quick." What her uncle said next was the last thing that Dawn would ever have expected to hear.

"Your grandfather has been murdered."

END, CHAPTER TWO

Author's notes:

DUN-DUN-DUN! And there we go, the crime that is the subject of this story has been unveiled. To those of you who might have guessed what the big reveal was going to be, give yourselves a pat on the back. In all seriousness, though, this is where things will start getting complicated. And interesting. Can't forget interesting. As a side-note, I made a reference to one of my favorite live-action series in this chapter.

Anyone want to try to guess what series I referenced?


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Mystery at the Reunion

Chapter three: Fallen Patriarch

To say that the general mood of the extended Loud family had taken a sharp nosedive at their big family reunion would be a bit of an understatement.

As police and CSI personnel milled about the area of the hotel where the late Lynn Sr.'s remains had been found stuffed into a closet, news of what had happened, as well as who it happened to, began to spread throughout the hotel. Naturally, the extended Loud family learned about it in next to flat, given that Dawn and her uncles Bobby and Aggro were the first three from the big extended family to learn what had happened, and they all had their respective phones with them. The texts flew out like bats flying out of a cave en masse.

The news of Lynn Sr. being murdered hit the members of the extended family who heard of it hard. But there was some variation among them, truth be told. Naturally, as one would have expected out of her when she had been told that her husband was found murdered, Rita broke down on the spot. The older matriarch of the Loud family was not counting on being told that she was a widow, nor was she expecting such a development anytime soon. She would have at least liked it to be sometime in her and Lynn Sr.'s early eighties at a minimum.

As for Lynn Sr.'s adult children, their responses were more diverse. Sure, all of them were very much upset to hear that their father was now dead, and there were some tears. But given how the late Lynn Sr. had been acting in the months prior to his death, a fair number of the adult Loud kids, along with some of their spouses, were ultimately unsure what to make of the development that had just cropped up.

The youngest of the adult Loud siblings were notably the most upset, with Lily being the most notable case, as Lynn Sr. would have walked her down the aisle in her upcoming wedding to Carlitos Casagrande. Lori, with a hint of annoyed strain in her told, told the baby of the family to calm down, as someone will come up with something to compensate for the loss of the older Loud patriarch. Perhaps Lincoln, the only boy among the adult Loud siblings, could fill that role. And since Lincoln's wife Ronnie Anne is the older cousin of Carlitos, that would make Lincoln taking his late father's place in giving Lily away on her wedding day all the more notable.

…But this is getting off subject.

"…Okay, bro," Bobby Santiago said to his younger brother-in-law Lincoln, as the two of them, plus their brother-in-law Aggro Ace, were talking amongst themselves, "Who among the whole of the extended family does not know that your dad bit it?"

"All of our respective children," the white-haired man replied, then with a bit of concern in his tone added, "…Well, aside from Dawn. But I already told her not to tell any of her cousins."

Nodding in agreement, Aggro remarked, "It's a good idea to refrain from telling the children what happened to their grandfather. At least for the time being."

"Yeah, I just hope none of Lincoln's sisters or any of our in-laws let it slip to the kids," Bobby remarked, "The last thing that we need right now are a bunch of upset kids crying because their grandfather is dead."

"Not just dead, but murdered," Lincoln pointed out to his older brother-in-law, "Someone had intentionally murdered my father. If what you and Aggro say is true." Both Bobby and Aggro nodded in the affirmative, confirming Lincoln's statement. With a concerned look on his face, the sole adult Loud brother remarked, "I still can't believe that someone killed my father. I mean, who would even consider doing that?"

Letting out a mildly resigned sigh, Aggro said, "Lincoln, it's no secret that your father's behavior in the couple of months prior to his death leaves loads to be desired. Keep in mind that not only did he effectively disowned the respective families of you and all of your sisters aside from Lucy, the twins and Lily, but ever since then he had been treating Dawn as if she bore a scarlet letter. Not to mention how his attitude became somewhat belligerent as a whole." Crossing his arms over his chest, the male Ace twin said, "I hate to say it, but I can probably think of a good number of potential suspects who could be responsible for your father's murder." Lincoln, along with Bobby, had resigned looks on their faces.

Aggro had a point on how the late Lynn Sr.'s attitude in the months leading up to today might inspire some less than helpful ideas in the heads of some of the family. In fact, one could make the argument that Lincoln, Bobby and Aggro themselves would be on that list, an idea that the male Ace twin confirmed when he listed himself, Lincoln and Bobby as individuals that the police might suspect should the topic of Lynn Sr.'s actions upon finding out the truth about Dawn's parentage come up.

…And that was something else that the three men were all concerned about. It was highly likely that, in their search of finding out who Lynn Sr.'s killer is, the police will come across the fact that Lynn Sr. had kicked the vast majority of his children, as well as those children's respective families, out of his will because they had kept the truth of Dawn's parentage from him. And if that subject is pressed, then the police will undoubtedly find out said truth about the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl. Understandably, that was not something that anyone in the whole of the extended Loud family would look forward to, Dawn especially.

Speaking of, the three men suddenly remembered their teenaged niece (or in Lincoln's case, his teenaged daughter). Dawn was undoubtedly going to be shaken by the turnout of what had taken place today, given that her grandfather, the very man who worked to make her life a living hell over the last few months, had been murdered. "Hey bros," Bobby began, a hint of mildly worried seriousness in his tone, "Don't you guys think we ought to go check up on Dawn? I mean, she did just found out that her grandpa was killed. She even saw some blood."

"That's right," Lincoln said in a tone of realization, smacking himself in the forehead a bit, "Who knows how much this might be screwing with Dawn right now?" As Lincoln, Bobby and Aggro moved to go locate the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl, their brother-in-law Rusty Spokes came running up to them.

"Hey, you guys! Wait up!" Rusty called out, getting the three men to stop and turn to face him. When he got to the three men, the older Spokes brother turned to face Lincoln specifically. "I still can't believe that your dad's been murdered," Rusty remarked.

Lincoln, with a grim look on his face, nodded twice in the affirmative. "…Yeah, Rusty," the white-haired man replied in the affirmative, "We're still trying to do damage control here." Running his fingers through his hair, Lincoln remarked, "It's going to be hell to have to break this news to the kids, aside from Dawn who already knows. It's a good thing that none of the kids have been told about it yet."

Rusty, with a mildly confused (with a dash of worry) look on his face, remarked, "The kids weren't supposed to be told yet?" Lincoln, Bobby and Aggro, once it caught up to them what Rusty had just said, all went wide-eyed in shock.

Pinching the bridge of his nose as he winced his eyes shut, Lincoln muttered in an exasperated tone, "Rusty…"

…

Dawn was still in a bit of shock concerning what was going on. But then again, one of her relatives (his recent treatment of her notwithstanding) was just found murdered. That was not something that the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl can simply shake off; in fact, this was almost as, if not just as/more so, shocking as when Dawn discovered that she was, albeit in a roundabout way, technically inbred. Furthermore, all that Dawn could think about ever since her grandfather had been found murdered was one question.

Who did it and why?

To be fair, it's not like there was absolutely no one who the late Lynn Sr. had pissed off, especially as of late. After all, with the exception of Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lily and their respective families, the late patriarch of the extended Loud family had essentially blacklisted his children and their respective families, cutting them out of what is now a _**very**_ considerable will. The late Lynn Sr. had also taken to making Dawn's life as much of a living hell as he could manage, an act that made the vast majority of the extended Loud family none too happy.

Some of Dawn's more belligerent aunts, as well as both of Dawn's moms, were among that number. However, that just brought up another question, one that the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl did not want to even consider; who among such a list of suspects would be willing to go so far as to actually _kill_ the late Lynn Sr.? Was Dawn now related to a _murderer_? The very idea of being related to someone who has killed another human being, even if only once, filled Dawn with a sense of dread, a feeling that chilled her to the very core of her being.

Worried, Dawn reached over to where she had her backpack sat on the floor next to the chair she was sitting in in the main area where the banquet was supposed to be held (due to Uncle Rusty spilling the beans and making all of the younger cousins freak out, Aunts Lucy and Lola went in to 'the kiddy room' to try and calm the kids down while the other adults tried to handle the rest of the mess), pulled out a pad of paper and a pen, and began to start writing, even though the pad of paper in question was made more for sketching, such as what Dawn does when she sketches a picture of an anime character she likes.

About halfway through her writing, Dawn was interrupted when she heard her Uncle Bobby call out to her, making her look up from her current task. When she looked up, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl saw Uncle Bobby, as well as Uncle Aggro and Uncle (actually her dad) Lincoln come walking up to her. She noticed that all three men had worried looks on their faces. "Can…can I help you?" Dawn asked, curious and mildly concerned by the looks on the men's faces.

"We just wanted to check up on you, Dawn," Lincoln explained to his secret daughter, concern clear in his tone, "It's no secret that something like all of what's happening can shake a person up, and you were right there at the front of it when your grandfather was found."

Nodding in agreement, Dawn said, "…Yeah, this whole mess has thrown me through something of a tizzy, if I'm to be honest." Looking back down at the list she was working on, which was about halfway finished, Dawn continued, "I'm just worried about who could have done it, is all. I mean, a killer is still out there."

"Hmm?" Aggro hummed in a curious tone when he saw that the names that his niece had written so far were all names of members of the extended Loud family. Looking over to Dawn, the male Ace twin remarked in a tone of piqued interest, "…I notice that you have some of your aunts and uncles on that list of suspects there."

"Given how that old fa-" Dawn began, but she caught herself, remembering what had happened recently and realizing that respect ought to be shown, even though he who was being shown said respect didn't exactly do much to deserve it in the months leading up to his murder. "…Given how my grandfather had acted over the last three months, right up to him being found in that closet murdered less than an hour ago, he didn't exactly create a small list of people that weren't exactly happy with him," the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl remarked, a hint of resigned somberness in her tone.

The three men all nodded in grim agreement with their niece, having reached a similar thesis themselves. "…Yeah, your grandfather wasn't really trying to be the most popular guy in the world before today," Bobby admitted, gently shaking his head in a gesture of mild pity.

"But there's still the elephant in the room to deal with," Lincoln began, "Figuring out who killed my father and why."

"The local police are already looking into this matter," Aggro said, "And that is a worrisome matter, because they'll most likely uncover the fact that the late Mr. Loud had effectively blacklisted most of his children and their respective families, and in and when they discover that, they're bound to list it as the main motivation for the murder, which is going to put even more suspicion on most of the extended family."

Dawn, with a mildly confused and curious look on her face, asked, "How exactly is all of that worrisome, Uncle Aggro? Given the context, it sounds like what the police would normally do over the course of their investigation."

Raising a wry eyebrow, the male Ace twin said as he looked at his teenaged niece, "…If and when the police reach that point, they will be prone to look into _why_ your late grandfather had taken such drastic steps against most of your aunts, uncles, both of your moms and your father." His eyes narrowing to help convey what he was trying to get at, Aggro said, "_Especially_ your father and one of your mothers."

Dawn looked up at her mixed-heritage uncle for a few seconds, a somewhat blank look on her face as she was processing what Aggro was saying. Suddenly, the realization of Aggro's words struck Dawn, making her go wide-eyed in alarmed surprise. "Holy crap!" the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl nearly exclaimed, "The police might discover _that_?!"

"It's a possibility," Aggro confirmed as he gave a single affirmative nod, the expression on his face mildly grim.

"So what are we going to do?!" Dawn asked, looking like she was starting to get hysteric; the last thing that Dawn needed was for the fact that she was (technically) inbred, a secret that was closely guarded and known only to members of the extended Loud family, to get out into where it can be scrutinized by the all-consuming public, who no doubt would try to use it to tear the rest of the extended Loud family apart.

It would be especially bad for Uncle Bobby, Uncle Ulfric and both of Dawn's moms, given that Uncle Bobby was the owner of a local empire of various businesses, Uncle Ulfric was a member of a professional football team, and both of Dawn's moms were famous musicians. Those four were admittedly rather big-named individuals, although Uncle Bobby was more of a local force as opposed to the more widely-known Uncle Ulfric and both of Dawn's moms. It would cause a bit of a scandal if word got out that not only was Dawn actually inbred, but that her family had been keeping it a secret for well before Dawn was even born.

As if the merciless media needed any help in tearing apart any and every famous person it can give that treatment to, simply to rack up ratings.

"Hopefully," Aggro said, drawing Dawn out of her panicking trail of thought, "Everyone in the family who knows will figure out how to avoid telling the police. Barring that, I'm certain that we can figure out how to make sure that word of your true parentage doesn't get out." Placing a hand on Dawn's shoulder in a reassuring gesture, the mixed-heritage man said, "We'll figure this out, Dawn. There's no need for you to worry." With a bit of a knowing smirk, as if he knew what his teenaged niece was thinking about, Aggro added, "Least of all about any of the adults."

The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl couldn't help but let out a chuckle, amazed that her Uncle Aggro had figured her out right away. He always did have a knack for doing that. Dawn was about to ask her uncles something else, but she was interrupted before she could even get one word out when her Aunt Lana came over, told Uncle Lincoln that Aunt Ronnie Anne was currently being interviewed by police, and that the well-fed Hispanic woman needed him. Nodding once, the white-haired man turned around to go check on his wife. Uncle Bobby wasn't all that far behind, given that Aunt Ronnie Anne was his younger sister.

Uncle Aggro decided to take the time to go find Aunt Leni, to make sure that she was doing okay. This left Dawn alone once again. With nothing else better to do, and to try and keep her mind from racing off on other trails of thought such as the fact that there's a murderer on the loose and the fact that there is now a very real possibility that her status of being inbred may end up getting out, Dawn went back to what she was doing before she was interrupted by her uncles, that being writing up a list of potential suspects.

END, CHAPTER THREE

Author's notes:

Yeah, there's no shortage of suspects in the murder of the late Lynn Sr., and because of the murder, there's now a very good chance that the fact that Dawn is inbred might get out, which would undoubtedly cause no end of grief for the extended Loud family, Dawn herself most of all. Anyway, the next chapter in this story will go on to show some the adult Louds going through the process of being interviewed by police in regards to the recent murder. And although Aggro had a point on how the adults will try their best to avoid revealing Dawn's status, there's always the chance that their best will simply not be good enough.

It's still a chance, though. Not a _guarantee_, a _chance_.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Mystery at the Reunion

Chapter four: A possible answer?

Officer Reagan was standing outside of the double doors that led into the dining hall where the Loud family reunion was being held. She, along with her husband who not only is also a police officer but one who is sergeant-rank, were gearing up to interview a few of the adults in the whole of the extended Loud family. After all, most of them were considered as suspects in the recently discovered murder of the late Lynn Loud Sr., the patriarch of the family as a whole and one of Royal Woods's most prominent citizens, due to his ownership of practically the entirety of the restaurant industry in the town.

The first adult that the Reagan couple interviewed was Ronnie Anne Loud, the notably well-fed wife of Lincoln Loud. She answered various generic questions that were asked of her, such as when she arrived at the hotel, what she was doing and when, where she was at during the time at which Lynn Sr.'s body was found, and so-forth. The chubby Hispanic woman was more annoyed than anything else with all of the questions. "That's the extent of what I know, Sergeant Jamie," Ronnie Anne said to the male police officer as she finished answering all of the questions that the policemen couple had for her.

Things were more or less the same with all of the Loud family adults that were interviewed; Rita barely got five or so words out in between sobs, the adult Loud siblings and their respective spouses answered what was asked of them (Officer Reagan was ecstatic to meet Luna and Sam, and Sergeant Reagan was a fan of the pro football team Ulfric belongs to), Allison barely had anything to offer as she was keeping an eye on her Tibetan Mastiffs Skoll and Hati (who she claims are superior to the German Shepards favored by the RWPD), and Rusty was tackled to the floor as he ran because he thought that Officer Reagan was going to try to arrest him, only to calm down and assured that they weren't going to hold his outstanding parking ticket(s) against him (for the moment, at least).

The Reagan couple proceeded to interview Dawn, as she was the one who first found any evidence of her grandfather's murder. The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl basically repeated what she had already told before, and the Reagan couple, picking up on how the minor was fast getting close to her emotional limit, decided that they had all that they could get from her and gave her the okay to leave. Dawn, who truly was at her limit, went right back to 'the kiddy room', which was a symphony of cries and wails because _somebody_ just had to tell a bunch of kids, all of which by the way are under the age of ten years, that their grandpa is dead (looking at you Rusty, you brainless dumbass).

It didn't take Dawn too long for even her younger cousins to become too much for her to handle, so she left 'the kiddy room' and found a relatively quiet area on the hotel grounds to rest at. As she looked up to the ceiling above her head, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl began to, once again, wonder about just who it could have been that murdered Lynn Sr. To make matters tougher for her, Dawn realized that there was quite the list of suspects in her late grandfather's murder.

The late older Loud patriarch had effectively disowned all of his adult children and their respective families, with the exceptions of the twins Lola and Lana, Lucy and Lily. There was also how Lynn Sr. had been acting belligerent over the course of the past three months, as well as how he was treating Dawn ever since he was informed of the truth of Dawn's parentage. Info that was acquired by either Lola, Lana, Lucy or Lily and given to him.

That was another mystery in the Loud family that still needed to be figured out; one of Dawn's aunts that wasn't supposed to be in the know somehow learned of Dawn being (technically) inbred, then gave that info to the late Lynn Sr. freely. Dawn figured that, since only those four aunts are set to inherit anything from Lynn Sr. now, the rest of the family can just wait to see who gets what at the reading of Lynn Sr.'s will, as that will be a good sign of who might have been the one that found out about and spilled the beans.

A bit pessimistic, to be sure. But it was one of the best things Dawn could think of in regards to finding out which of her aunts was the one that found out about the truth of her (Dawn's) origins and decided to blab to Lynn Sr. But that was another mystery for another time; the mystery for _this_ time was figuring out who murdered Lynn Sr. and why. The police milling about the hotel would be gathering evidence, and soon enough they'll uncover evidence that would point to a specific person or persons.

Dawn never would have guessed that the family reunion, an event that she was dreading to go to because she had all the reason in the world to suspect her bastard of a grandfather would take to making her experience a living hell, would have had so shaking an event as the murder of the very man that the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl dreaded having to deal with. It was because of how the late Lynn Sr. had treated her in the months prior to his death that Dawn was unsure if she should scorn and condemn the murderer…or give said murderer her thanks for offing a bastard that would see her suffer for something that was beyond her control. Such is the way of having family that does not act as family should. Sure, they are abhorrent people with no redeeming aspects and no one can stand them.

…But they are still family.

* * *

"This is a nightmare," Luan said as she stood with her sisters Leni, Luna, Lori and Lynn, "Not only was dad murdered, but there's a very good chance the police will find out why dad was acting the way he was up to his death." Gesturing around with her hands, the comedic Loud sister continued, "And no doubt the media and paparazzi will find out soon enough then blab it all over the place."

Gently shaking her head, Luna said, "You got us there, brah. It will cause quite a scandal for me and Sam." Gesturing to Lynn, Luna continued, "To a lesser extend it may reflect poorly on Lynn's man Ulfric, given he's also famous."

"GRRRRRAAAAHHH!" Lori shouted in frustration, "When I find out which of our bratty sisters was the one who discovered what dad was told about Dawn, I will literally-"

Lori was interrupted when she felt a pat on her right shoulder. Turning around, Lori saw that Lincoln's wife Ronnie Anne was standing there. "Umm, sorry to interrupt your…" The well-fed Hispanic woman began, "…Lecture here." Gesturing to the buffet spread on the table that Lori stood in front of, Ronnie Anne continued, "But you're standing in front of the enchiladas and I'm a bit puckish right now."

Lori stepped to the side so Ronnie Anne could get something to eat. "Yeah, like I was saying," Lori said to her (biological) sisters as their sister-in-law was piling up a plate behind her, "Our sister who found out the truth about Dawn is literally going to be broken when we find out who she is. Not if, _when_, because believe you me, we _will_ find out which one of them is the one that not only found out the truth behind Dawn's parentage, but also saw fit to tell dad about it and drive him to very nearly destroy the family out of sheer force of ego."

Pounding a fist into her hand, Lynn said, "I'll hold their arms behind their back and let you girls go to town on their faces." Placing a hand on her hip, the sporty Loud sister continued as she shook her fist, "Whichever one of our younger sisters decided to be a brat and tell dad what she not only found out but was not supposed to know will be grounded into a viscous red paste by the time we're done."

"Girls, girls, girls," Leni said, a look of mildly concerned worry on her face, "I know that you all are, like, upset with what one of our sisters did. But is physical violence really the answer here to make things right?"

"Yes," Lynn replied right away without missing a beat.

Letting out a resigned, knowing sigh, Lori said, "No Lynn, Leni has a point. As much as I would literally like to, neither I nor any of us should take our frustrations out on whichever sister it was that learned the truth about Dawn and decided to tell dad about it." Crossing her arms over her chest, the oldest Loud sister let out a huff before saying, "We can simply have everyone else in the family give that sister the cold shoulder until the heat-death of the universe."

The other adult Loud sisters that stood there all nodded in agreement, finding Lori's idea of treating their younger sister in-question as a non-person more appealing in certain aspects. As the older adult Loud sisters all settled on the non-violent method that Lori had come up with, Lynn turned her head to the side to get a look of where Ronnie Anne was standing as she was getting some food from the buffet table. To the sporty Loud sister's surprise, Ronnie Anne had taken the last of the enchiladas.

Pointing to where the tray of enchiladas now sat empty on the buffet table, Lynn said with a hint of sheer amazement in her tone, "…There were four in that tray. And they were fairly big, too. I think that even I would have trouble besting Ronnie Anne in an eating contest, and I can still very easily pack away meatball grinders like there's no tomorrow."

Lori and the others all turned to look where their fuller-bodied sister-in-law was standing, and they were all likewise surprised by the sheer size of the Hispanic woman's appetite. "…And here I thought that Allison's cousin Anastacia was a big eater," Lori said in a somewhat quiet tone of subdued shock.

* * *

Dawn, in an effort to try to distract herself from the fact that not only was her grandfather murdered but that there were police milling about the place trying to gather evidence to figure out who it was that did the deed, pulled out her handheld video game system to play the JRPG game that she had inserted into the system before she left the house with her Aunt Lori and the rest of that family earlier. Sure, Aunt Lori had asked (technically not ordered, having sympathy for Dawn due to the treatment she was getting as of late from the late Lynn Sr.) her teenage niece to leave the video game stuff back at the house, but due to all that has been going on over the last couple of hours, Dawn figured that Aunt Lori wouldn't raise a stink over it.

It was still eating at the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl who it could have been that murdered her bastard of a grandfather. As it just so happened, the quest that Dawn was taking care of in her JRPG game that she was playing was a murder mystery quest involving the murder of an old wealthy man who had a lot of businesses in the town her character was in at the moment, and it was eerily similar to the mystery of the murder of the late Lynn Sr.

As she was thinking over the clues to the murder mystery quest in her game (all parts that required action and/or combat were a breeze as Dawn had long since maxed out _every_ skill tree for her character with skill points), Dawn's mind wandered over to what she thought of in regards to the real-life murder mystery that was on her family's hands right now. Dawn, with some inspiration from one line in the quest she was doing, figured that so many of her relatives being cut out of the inheritance was a key factor here.

Dawn's own mothers, who are famous musicians that command serious incomes, as well as her Uncle Ulfric and Aunt Lynn, have the least reason to be upset since they can very easily support themselves, given that their respective households earn a whole lot. Similarly, Aunt Lori and Uncle Bobby, due to the latter owning a business empire in Royal Woods whose influence, power and overall wealth is comparable to that of the empire of restaurants that the late Lynn Sr. left behind, wouldn't care in the long run about being cut out of the inheritance.

Uncle Aggro and Aunt Leni still have Odin-Dono's, and they're well off enough financial wise, and with Uncle Lincoln working as a video game programmer, he earned enough to not have to want for anything. There's also how Aunt Lisa and Uncle David both work as top-end scientists, and they're coming out with new inventions every so often.

This meant that Aunt Luan and Uncle Benny, to Dawn at least, might have the most reason to murder Lynn Sr. as they have the overall lowest income out of all of the families that were cut out of the will. However, Dawn just couldn't see either of them willing to go so far as to actually murder someone. The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl also couldn't discount the fact that there was a chance that the late Loud patriarch's will was _not_ a factor that was considered by his killer when the deed was carried out. If revenge, rather than wealth, was the reason the murdered had to kill Lynn Sr., then Dawn had a feeling that _any_ of her adult relatives that were given the cold shoulder by her bastard of a grandfather would have done the deed, as they all had no tolerance for his actions up to his death, especially in regards to how he treated Dawn.

If the way he treated Dawn _was_ the reason for his murder, then the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl had no idea how she would react, how she would look at her relative who decided to avenge the way she was treated by going to the logical extreme.

As she finished up her quest in the game (the murderer was a butler), Dawn was brought out of her thoughts when she heard the doors leading into 'the kiddy room' was thrown open, and she saw her Uncle Rusty rush into the room, a rattled look of alarm on his face. "Holy crap Dawn, you aren't going to believe this!" the older Spokes brother practically exclaimed as he dashed over to his teenage niece.

"What's going on uncle Rus-" Dawn began, but she was cut off when Rusty spewed the next thing that came out of his mouth.

"Your Aunt Ronnie Anne and your Uncle Bobby are both being arrested!"

* * *

A hefty-looking Caucasian police captain watched as two greenhorn officers loaded Bobby and his younger (but bigger) sister into the back of a police cruiser. As the police captain watched with satisfaction as the two adult siblings were loaded into the back of the police cruiser, the police couple the Reagans came walking over, both of them looking rather cross. "Captain, with all due respect, don't you think you're jumping the gun here?" Officer Reagan asked as she eyed her superior with a questioning look.

Gesturing to where the adult Santiago siblings sat in the back of the cruiser, the police captain said, "You were there when one of the boys from the CSI crew found some Mexican food seasoning at the scene of the crime. Not only are both of them Mexican, but that fatass in the back was stuffing her face with her people's food right before the body was found, along with a bit after said discovery."

"I'm going to have to side with Eddie on this," Sergeant Jamie said to the captain while he (Jamie) gestured to his wife and fellow officer of the law, "Not only are the bits that we got on the food seasoning and what Mrs. Loud in the back was eating both circumstantial evidence at best, but arresting Mrs. Loud and her older brother because of their ethnicity is blatant racial profiling. Even _if_ one of them is the killer, you will catch a lot of fire from some of the chiefs, and that's saying nothing of how the commissioner herself will tear into you for allowing racism to dictate how you're running the case."

Waving a dismissive hand at the police couple, the captain said, "Just chill your tits, the both of you. This case is a slam dunk now that we know it was one of the two in the back." Turning around to walk over to his cruiser, the captain said as he left, "My money's on the fatass."

As the captain's cruiser and the one carrying Ronnie Anne and Bobby drove away, the Reagans both shook their head in disappointment. "…I'm going to call the commissioner about this," Jamie said when he turned to face Eddie, "And things, despite what the captain believes, are still far from done here." As the officer woman nodded in agreement with her sergeant husband, Dawn and Rusty could be seen running towards them.

"Yo, officers!" Rusty said, getting Jamie and Eddie to turn to face him and Dawn, "Is it true that you guys are arresting my sister-in-law and her older brother?"

Jerking a thumb over her shoulder in the direction the two departing cruisers took off in, Eddie said, "The captain did, not me or Jamie." Gently shaking her head, Eddie explained, "He's taking them in based solely on them both being Mexican simply because Mexican food seasoning was found near Lynn Sr.'s body."

"W-what?" Dawn said, surprised to hear what she was just told.

"The captain's just looking for a quick and easy end to this case," Jamie remarked with a shrug, "So much so that he's cutting a few corners in the investigation, which by the way is nowhere near done here."

Gesturing to Rusty and Dawn, Eddie said, "I'm certain that your relatives that the captain had brought in will be released in due time." With an amused chuckle, the female officer added, "I'm also looking forward to seeing the captain get grilled by the commissioner who, by the way, just so happens to be Hispanic herself."

Turning to face his niece, Rusty said, "Well, at least your Aunt Ronnie Anne and Uncle Bobby are practically guaranteed to get released due to the police captain's racism and sloppiness in trying to speed up solving the murder of your grandfather."

"…Yeah," Dawn said in a somber tone, still not being able to help but worry about her Hispanic relatives. The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl hoped that not only would Ronnie Anne and Bobby get released soon, but that the competent and non-racist police find out who it was that really did kill the late Lynn Sr. and bring said killer in.

END, CHAPTER FOUR

Author's notes:

Boom! A big event has just taken place with Ronnie Anne and her older brother Bobby being brought in with the suspicion that one of them is the person that killed Lynn Sr. However, it was done based on a mix flimsy/circumstantial evidence and sheer racism, so it's probably not going to hold. But who can say if this blip will give the real killer time to cover his/her tracks, maybe even make a getaway as well? Things will be coming to a head in the next chapter, so keep your eyes peeled for things to come.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Mystery at the Reunion

Chapter five: Pasts revealed

Dawn was still in shock on how her Aunt Ronnie Anne and Uncle Bobby were both just arrested on suspicion that one or both of them had murdered her grandfather Lynn Sr. at the Loud family reunion. Sure, it was on flimsy/circumstantial evidence and the arresting captain was clearly a big racist, and Dawn knew her aunt and uncle well enough that both of them loathed the way that she was being treated by her late grandfather in the months leading up to his death, but it was still a rather big shock to the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl.

Dawn, despite how much Aunt Ronnie Anne and Uncle Bobby loathed how the late Loud patriarch treated her, just couldn't see either of them as killers. Uncle Bobby was a chill, lay back, friendly and easy-going kind of guy who didn't look like he was capable of doing any sort of serious harm to anyone. And Aunt Ronnie Anne? She was like one of those kind-natured, sometimes sassy-funny fat black women, the kind that would often refer to younger folks as 'hun' or some variation thereof. Only Aunt Ronnie Anne was Hispanic instead.

The teenage daughter of Luna and Sam had every confidence in the world that the officers who said that Aunt Ronnie Anne and Uncle Bobby would be released were right. Even so, that did not stop Dawn from worrying. Not just over how two of her relatives, one of which has had an active role in raising her since practically forever, was just taken away by police over clearly false charges, but the fact that the person those charges were meant for was still out there, and who knows what they'll do next.

There's also the fact that, due to the nature of the investigation, the truth of Dawn's parentage may end up getting made public knowledge. That would be an absolute nightmare for the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl, for multiple reasons.

Dawn was starting to panic just a little bit as she worried what might be happening to her aunt and uncle, so she tried to distract herself by going what little she knew about the case thus far. Apparently, the only standout thing was the fact that Mexican food seasoning was found on and/or near her grandfather's body, which is why Aunt Ronnie Anne and Uncle Bobby, both of which are Mexican, were carted away to the police station.

There was also the fact that Aunt Ronnie Anne had eaten quite a bit of the Mexican food that was at the buffet in the main area where the reunion was being held (Dawn had to admit that maybe Aunt Ronnie Anne ought to consider putting down the fork), so it was a logical, albeit disconcerting, reason to conclude that Aunt Ronnie Anne might have something to do with the death of Lynn Sr. As much as Dawn didn't want to think it, her Hispanic aunt may be in some way related to the murder of her (Dawn's) grandfather.

Feeling nervous about all that was going on, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl decided that she had to do something to settle her nerves. Heading back into the hotel hall where the main part of the reunion was being held, Dawn went over to where some of the tables of food were located, looking to get something to eat. It was there that she encountered her Uncle Rocky and Uncle Rusty, both of whom were talking with one another.

Gesturing to his younger brother, Rusty said, "I'm telling you, bro. There is no way that Lincoln's wife is guilty of anything." Crossing his arms over his chest, the older Spokes brother continued with an amused smirk on his face, "Unless it's single-handedly running an all-you-can-eat buffet out of-"

"Uncles?" Dawn said, cutting Rusty off and making him and Rocky turn to face her.

"Oh, Dawn," Rocky greeted, "Your aunt and uncle getting arrested isn't making you worry too much, is it young lady?"

Gently shaking her head, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl replied, "I know that there is no way either of them could have done it. Even so, I can't help but worry a little bit for them. I mean, they were both taken away by police."

Nodding in understanding, Rusty replied, "That's fair. Regardless of if they are innocent or not, being taken away by police like that cannot be a pleasant experience for either of them. Made all the more unpleasant by the fact that it was motivated partly by racism on the arresting captain's part, all because he wanted to wrap this up quickly."

Dawn nodded a few times in agreement before saying, "Yeah, all because Aunt Ronnie Anne and Uncle Bobby are both Hispanic, and Mexican food seasoning just so happened to have been found where my grandfather was found dead." Suddenly, a look of suspicious wonder crossed the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl's expression. "…Hang on," Dawn began, "How…how exactly did Mexican food seasoning get to where my grandfather was found?"

"Pardon?" Rusty began, a clearly confused look on the face of the older Spokes brother.

"I mean, I logically don't see why anyone from any of the families would bring Mexican food that was cooked at home since catering was going to be provided by the various places that were hired for the event," Dawn replied, "Why bring food to a family reunion when there was going to be food there waiting for you and everyone else?"

Shrugging indifferently, Rusty said, "Maybe someone wanted to dump a bunch of Mexican food seasoning on some of the food that was brought in by that German place in order to spice it up a little bit. Who knows?"

"There's…" Rocky began, sounding like he was starting to connect some of the same dots that his and Rusty's teenage niece was also connecting, "…There's also the fact that one of the places that was hired to cater the family reunion is a Mexican food place. Lori told me about how she and some of her sisters saw Ronnie Anne just about clear out all of that food on her own."

Gently shaking his head, Rusty said, "Wow, I hope that Lincoln doesn't mind it too much that he has a fatass for a wife."

"We can discuss Aunt Ronnie Anne's weight later, right now that's not the point," Dawn said, "What I am trying to get at here is that maybe one of the guys who brought catering from that Mexican food place may have something to do with-"

Dawn was cut off when she and her redheaded uncles all heard the sound of someone turning tail and trying to run out of the room as fast as possible. Looking over, Dawn and the Spokes brothers all saw one of the men that was catering from the Mexican food place trying to run out of the room as quickly as possible. Acting on instinct, Dawn and the Spokes brothers all tried running after the guy.

"Get back here, you son of a bitch!" Rusty yelled as he was the furthest from catching up to the fleeing suspect, because suddenly running away when he was one of potential persons being discussed by a nearby conversation was a SURE FIRE WAY to avoid being seen as guilty in any way, shape or form.

The fleeing suspect paid Rusty no mind, especially since Rusty was having the hardest time catching up with him; even Dawn, who is by no means an athlete due to her gamer and otaku lifestyle and actually has something of an issue with asthma, was having an easier time catching up to the fleeing suspect, although Rocky was the closest by far. Even with Rocky's advantage, the fleeing suspect was just a bit too far, and was most likely going to get away from Dawn and the Spokes brothers.

…So as one can imagine, Dawn and the Spokes brothers were relieved when a pair of Tibetan Mastiffs came running up to the fleeing suspect from his left and confronting/tackling him to the ground. With a pair of very large and very powerful dogs right there next to him, the suspect had no chance of getting away. Dawn and the Spokes brothers all got up to the suspect right around the time that Dawn's aunt Allison came jogging up, aiming to retrieve Skoll and Hati.

Seeing her niece and two of her brothers-in-law confronting the suspect, Allison asked, "What in the name of Odin is going on here?"

"We caught this guy trying to turn tail and run right when we were discussing how Mexican food seasoning was found on Lincoln's dad's body," Rusty said as he gripped the suspect's arm, "He's one of the guys from the Mexican food place that was catering the family reunion here."

Allison turned her attention to the suspect, who Skoll and Hati were both still growling and barking at. "…" Giving the suspect a look of suspicion, the female Ace twin said, "…I would be hearing your explanation, foul man." The suspect, seeing that there was no way that he was going to get out of this, merely growled in annoyance, cursing the fact that he had been caught just now before he could get away.

* * *

The suspect that was caught by Dawn and the others, whose name is Jean-Luc Ramirez, is a man of mixed French-Mexican ancestry, turned out to have been the person behind the murder of the late Lynn Loud Sr. Ramirez was actually playing quite the long game when it came to killing the late Loud patriarch, as he had years to cultivate his vengeance over something that Lynn Sr. had done to not just to him but to all of his family and various relatives.

Back in the day, when Lynn Sr. first started out in the restaurant business with his first restaurant 'Lynn's Table', it became quite the hit. So much so that other restaurants in Royal Woods soon started seeing a very significant drop in customers; very few places, such as Odin-Dono's, was able to avoid the vast majority of the sting, but the Swedish-Japanese place survived because one, it was literally the only place in Royal Woods that sold mead, and two, the Japanese food that is on the menu was popular among white kids that liked to act as if they were Japanese.

Most other places that weren't fast food joints suffered greatly, and soon started having to shut down one by one. Jean Juan's, a French-Mexican place that was one of the mainstays of Royal Woods up until that point, was one such unfortunate victim of Lynn Sr.'s rise in the restaurant business in Royal Woods.

Other restaurants, like Giovanni Chang's and Aloha comrade, soon followed, and the old buildings were soon bought up by Lynn Sr. and repurposed into branches of Lynn's Table. Bangers and Mosh also fell in a similar manner, but when Lynn Sr. bought it up he kept it as is as much as he could for nostalgia reasons, only making enough 'Lynn's Table' additions to keep it going strong enough. But I digress.

The business was rather hard and harsh to those that had been thrown to the waste side. Ramirez, along with his sister and two Hispanic men that worked at Jean Juan's, learned this the hard way then they went to his father's place one day. Ramirez's father, who was one of the founding persons connected to the French-Mexican place, was found slowly swaying from the rafters of his old house by a noose.

The suicide note left on the table on the side of the room where Ramirez's father was found detailed how, with the loss of his restaurant that he and the family had put everything into over the last couple of decades, there was no way that he could bounce back from such a loss, so he tragically decided to end it all. And Ramirez's father wasn't the _only_ person in Royal Woods to commit suicide due to losing a restaurant because Lynn's Table drove them out of business.

Blaming his father's suicide, as well as all other hardships his family suffered since then, on the old Loud patriarch, Ramirez decided that he was going to get his revenge by murdering the very man that was responsible for crushing not just his father's dreams and wrecking his family, but for also crushing the dreams of _every_ restaurant owner who was run out of business due to being unable to compete with Lynn's Table, for taking up the shutdown restaurants and converting all of them into copies of the restaurant that started it all, like some manner of zombie apocalypse except rather than humans being turned into zombies, it was other restaurants in Royal Woods being turned into copies of Lynn's Table.

Ramirez was plotting and scheming for years on end on how he would not just carry out the dark deed, but how to even get close to Lynn Sr. in order to carry out said dark deed. The opportunity came in the form of when the Mexican restaurant he was hired at a few months prior to the Loud family reunion was hired by said family to cater said reunion. Not doubting that Lynn Sr. was going to be at the event, Ramirez was the first to volunteer when the boss asked for persons to go and work the event.

After reaching the reunion and helping his fellow co-workers from the Mexican restaurant, most of which were also previous employees at Jean Juan's and were likewise very much unhappy with the old Loud patriarch, and helping them set up what they had brought, Ramirez kept a look out for Lynn Sr. and waited for the prefect opportunity to follow him and eventually get him alone so that he could take his revenge.

The opportunity came in that hallway, and Ramirez, dressed like a member of the hotel janitorial staff, dragged Lynn Sr. into the closet and murdered him. He then discreetly left, found a private place to change, got back into his outfit for working at the Mexican restaurant, and no one was ever the wiser. There was only real blip in Ramirez's plan, though.

Dawn.

The French-Mexican man took every single member of the whole extended Loud family into account, planning to make sure none of them would get in the way; he even took the children of the various branch families into account, even baby Randy, just to be safe. The only member of the extended Loud family that Ramirez did not take into account was the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl. Ramirez wasn't even aware of the fact that Dawn existed; to him, the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl might as well have been some magical purple unicorn with wings that ruled over a kingdom of other similarly magical horses, or some other bullshit along those lines or whatever.

Because the mixed French-Mexican man had no idea about Dawn, he failed to account for her in his plans, thusly he decided that he had to gather his shiznits and get the hell out of dodge ASAP. Unfortunately for him, by the time he was about halfway ready to leave, the police had shown up and were starting to investigate; if he left right then, it would cast suspicion on him. So that's why he decided to take advantage of the temporary distraction of the two Hispanic adult siblings being arrested to try and leave.

…However, he panicked when Dawn, who was nearby talking to Rusty and Rocky, started connecting the dots and was getting close to fingering him as a potential suspect. When Dawn was getting close to the truth on her own, Ramirez inadvertently saved her the trouble by trying to make a break for it. If he had kept calm and tried to bluff when he was grilled in the inevitable questioning, then Ramirez would have most likely gotten away with getting his revenge against the late old Loud patriarch.

But he failed, and was now going to pay for something that he still honestly can't regret doing. Ramirez failed for two reasons; one, he panicked (something that often causes people to fail when it came to doing crimes) when the heat was starting to get on him, and two, he had no idea that the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl existed. Because of those two factors, Ramirez was going to be going away for a long time, even though he still can't honestly regret killing Lynn Sr. for how he ruined not just his life but the lives of many.

Surprisingly, the mix French-Mexican man ended up being charged with manslaughter rather than straight up murder in any degree; he was ultimately sentenced to fifteen years in prison, with possible eligibility for parole in ten. Some of the many whose lives were similarly ruined by the late old Loud patriarch didn't quite hold Ramirez's actions against him, and some who were particularly hateful towards the late Lynn Sr. were even planning to welcome Ramirez back with open arms once he got out of prison.

Lynn Sr., in his quest to achieve his dream, ended up trampling over and destroying the dreams of many others. He was in a field of business, and in the business world, things can get rather cutthroat. He was on the dealing end for the longest time, so long that he sort of lost touch in a way, came to believe that nothing bad could happen to him. Well, Lynn Sr. was wrong, and in the process of ruining the lives and trampling the dreams of others, he ended up paying for it in a rather gruesome fashion.

The only solace that the extended Loud family can take from all of this was that Lynn Sr.'s death was avenged by Dawn. And even then Lynn Sr. would probably complain that 'the freaky abomination' as he had taken to referring to Dawn as in the months leading up to his unexpected murder, was the one who avenged him; he probably would have demanded that 'one of his non-traitor children' be the one to avenge him.

…Well tough shit, Lynn Sr. So your murder was avenged by your inbred granddaughter. Can't you just be happy with the fact that your murder had been avenged by anyone at all? …You ungrateful fucking piece of offal.

* * *

A week after Ramirez was sentenced, Dawn was relaxing at the Santiago residence, sitting at the dining table as her Aunt Lori talked to Aunt Ronnie Anne, who came over to visit. As the adults talked, Dawn was playing on a handheld video game system. "Wait, wait, wait," the well-fed Hispanic woman said, looking at Lori with a look of mild surprise, "So the murderer ended up being one of the guys that was catering the reunion, and it was for revenge over your dad's restaurant driving Jean Juan's out of business years ago?"

Lori nodded in confirmation before gesturing to Dawn and saying, "And it was Dawn here who was able to piece everything together."

Ronnie Anne turned to face her teenage niece, a look of amusement on her notably full face. "Well I'll be damned, Dawn," Ronnie Anne said, "This is the second time that your actions had helped to bring justice. You may have a future in law enforcement if you keep this up."

Dawn could not help but smirk a bit, especially since she had just finished a boss fight in the video game she was playing where the boss enemy that she had just killed was a police chief, albeit a rather corrupt one. "…Heh, me?" Dawn began to reply, "In law enforcement? Yeah right, that will be the-"

Dawn was cut off when her Aunt Lori's hone buzzed, alerting the Santiago woman to the fact that she had just gotten a text from someone. The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl decided to leave her two aunts be and resume playing her game. About ten seconds after she got back to her game, Dawn was checking her player character's equipment when Lori suddenly exclaimed in a clearly worried, alarmed and pissed tone, "THIS LITTERALLY CANNOT BE REAL!"

Looking up from her video game (which she had paused) and over to her blonde-haired aunt, Dawn saw the look of worry and great concern on Lori's face. Worried that something bad had happened to one of the members of the extended family, Dawn asked in an apprehensive tone, "…Aunt Lori? Did something bad happen?" As Dawn had been expecting, Lori confirmed that something bad did happen.

The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl was worried that someone else in the family had died in some fashion or another, something that was the absolute last thing that the extended Loud family needed right now, even more so since the reading of the will of the late Lynn Sr.'s was coming up soon. However, Lori gently shook her head and said, "No, Dawn, no one in the family died." Looking at the text she had gotten from Luan, looking at what the text was telling her, the blonde woman remarked, "But it's still literally one of the worst possible things ever."

"What the hell happened, Lori?" Ronnie Anne asked as she and Dawn looked at her with expectant looks. Letting out a resigned sigh, Lori turned to face both her sister-in-law and their teenaged niece. The bombshell that Lori dropped was nothing that Ronnie Anne nor Dawn was expecting, but when they heard it both were filled with a sense of absolute dread, especially so for Dawn. And for good reason.

"Someone has leaked to various media outlets the truth of Dawn's parentage," Lori explained in a regretful, somber tone, "As we speak, there are news reports popping up all over about how Luna had a child with Lincoln, and now Luna and Sam are dealing with the serious fallout that's on their hands."

END, CHAPTER FIVE

Author's notes:

Well, the mystery has been solved, the case is closed, Ronnie Anne and Bobby were cleared of any and all wrongdoing, and Lynn Sr.'s death has been avenged. However, all spirits that were raised by what little good came out of all of that were dashed to oblivion by the sudden outing of Dawn's status of being inbred. She's going to be finding herself all over the news, mostly due to the fact that her mothers, Luna and Sam, are famous musicians and one of them (technically) had her (Dawn) with her (Luna's) brother. And this is saying nothing of how the extended family as a whole if going to be able to handle things here.

Anyway, the next chapter will be the final chapter of this story, and it will mostly cover who gets what out of Lynn Sr.'s will. There will also be some suspicion thrown around as to who gave the late old Loud patriarch the info on Dawn's true parentage, as well as who leaked said info on said true parentage to the various media sources. Things will get heated, no doubt about that. And even though this story will be ending in the next chapter, there's sadly not enough room for the rest of the family to figure out who it was that ousted Dawn's status.

…It's a good thing that I was planning to do a total of four stories for the Dawn Sharp series, yeah?


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Mystery at the Reunion

Chapter six: The will of suspicion

"Thank you all for coming here," a lawyer said to the adult Loud twins, Lucy, Lily and Rita who all sat around a table at a lawyer office building in Royal Woods, "I know that the topic of losing Lynn Sr. is a tough one for all of you, but there is still the fact that his will has to be taken care of to figure out who gets what from his belongings."

The mood was somber in the air as the reading of Lynn Sr.'s will began. Lori, despite knowing full well that she won't be getting anything out of her hateful father's will, was still at the will reading, given that Rita asked her to be there to assist her with whatever it was that she would be needing. The old Loud matriarch was also going to be needing a shoulder to lean on if need be, a pillar of strength to lean on for support. Lori, the first born of the adult Loud siblings, was going to serve in that capacity.

To a complete lack of surprise on Lori's part, the expected generalities were covered first, with only her sisters that were present and Rita getting anything at all. The first born Loud sister truly was upset with her late father, as his hatefulness and unwillingness to accept anything other than his way was still having an influence from beyond the grave. Lori looked almost bored by the halfway mark in the reading of her father's will, even though she had to remain in order to be the pillar for her old mother to lean on.

There was also…another reason that the oldest adult Loud sibling was here at a will reading that she was set to get nothing from. Lori, her siblings that were not present and all of their respective spouses, knew that either Lola, Lana, Lucy or Lily had to the be the one that found out about Dawn being the inbred daughter of Luna and Lincoln, and then handing all of said info over to the late Lynn Sr.

This was why the old Loud patriarch had been as mean and hateful as he was since the day he learned the truth, right up to the day he was murdered by one of the guys affiliated with one of the many restaurants in Royal Woods that had been run out of business by Lynn Sr. Lori had a hunch that she would get a very strong hint as to who it was that blew the whistle and brought about the hateful air that Lynn Sr. gave off for the rest of his life by seeing which of her younger sisters got what in the will. The late Lynn Sr. would undoubtedly give the most that he can to the daughter that ratted the truth to him, a sign of approval to helping him keep tabs on everything in the whole of the extended family.

So as one could imagine, when the lawyer announced that the whole of Lynn Sr.'s empire of restaurants in Royal Woods was being inherited by Lily, of all people, the oldest adult Loud sister was shocked. Shocked because not only was such a boon being granted to someone that was one of the least logical choices to receive it due to having little in the ways of actually knowing how to run it, but that such a boon would have been granted to Lily for only one reason that Lori could think of.

It still came to Lori as a surprise, though.

* * *

"You think that it was Lily that told dad about Dawn?" Luan asked when Lori got together with her and the others of the older half of the adult Loud siblings; Lincoln was there as well, as was Lisa due to her connection to the conversation that was to be at hand.

Nodding grimly in confirmation, Lori replied in a mildly somber tone, "Well what other reason would dad literally have for leaving all of his restaurants to her? Obviously he was grateful to her for informing him about Dawn, thus he decided to set her up for life by leaving her all of the restaurants that he had here."

The five oldest adult Loud sisters and Lincoln still couldn't believe it; even Lincoln, the sole male among the gathered adults, had known Lily since she was a baby, with the white-haired man being around eleven to twelve years of age back when Lily was still a baby. To think that the happy-go-lucky baby from way back in the day would grow up into a young woman who would sell out her own family if it meant securing a good position for herself.

It was clear to them, with what all that they knew, that Lily had to have been the one who found out the truth about Dawn and told Lynn Sr. about it. Not only that, but the truth about Dawn somehow very recently was leaked to various media outlets, with one tabloid magazine that had published the first of the wave saying that the info was sold to them by 'a mysterious woman who wore a trench coat and fedora, and all that they saw of her really was her blonde hair'. Lily just so happened to be blonde, and with what Lori was able to conclude recently, it made sense that Lily was also the one who told the media outlets all about Dawn.

The six adults had no idea what to do, now that they knew that not only was their younger sister responsible for prompting their late father to effectively disown a vast majority of all of them, but also sold Dawn out to the ever-consuming media. Many of them were unsure of what to say right now, although Lynn looked fit to go to war, and had to be calmed down by the rest of the gathered adult Loud siblings.

Lynn was still mad at Lily, though.

"So…" Leni asked, a look of worried concern on her face, "…What do we do, like, now?"

Lori let out a long-suffering, troubled sigh. "…Well we literally can't exactly let Lily get away with ruining Dawn's life like how she did," the oldest adult Loud sibling began, "But she does now technically own a fair portion of the restaurants here in Royal Woods that aren't fast food places, not to mention that said restaurants _are_ something of a family legacy to us, despite how the man who started said legacy was being brainless for the last few months prior to his death. We literally can't, despite how we may feel, act without thinking first."

The others looked around at each other, looks of uncertainty all around as the adult Loud siblings that were present thought about what all to do in regards to what they've reached a conclusion on in their ongoing search for the answer to who it was that told Lynn Sr. about Dawn. They were not expecting the answer to be the youngest among the number of the adult Loud siblings, and it was still something that a good few of them were having trouble wrapping their heads around.

…But they couldn't exactly let Lily get away with ruining Dawn's life like how she did.

* * *

To say that Dawn was shocked when she was told by Aunt Lori that it was Aunt Lily that told Grandpa Lynn the truth about her, that it was Aunt Lily who sold her out to the tabloids. The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl had no way of processing what she had learned about the youngest of her aunts as it was sending her for something of a tail spin; given the age difference between Dawn and Lily, the young adult Loud sister was more akin to an older sister to the inbred teen, and it was thought that said bond would keep either of them from doing anything to betray the other one in the pairing.

…But Dawn supposed, sadly enough, that she was wrong.

If her Aunt Lily doing something as unforgivable as what had been done was the only thing that was on Dawn's mind, then she would have been able to put up with things going on around her to an extent. However, not only did Lily sell Dawn out to the late Lynn Sr., she had also sold her out to the tabloids, effectively putting a target on the backs of everyone who was in the entirety of the extended Loud family.

Sam and especially Luna were hit hard, as they were a celebrity couple and Luna was personally affected as she was the one who had given birth to Dawn. Ulfric was also made to answer some questions as he was a relative who was a professional athlete, but he was harassed nowhere near as much as what was expected. Lincoln, who was the one that had sired Dawn, was pestered by a few news reporters looking for a scoop.

And this all is saying nothing of the paparazzi, who were like moths drawn to a flame, a flame that was the hot, burning train wreck that was all of what was going on now that the truth about Dawn had gotten out, where it could be scrutinized by the unforgiving public eye. The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl, who used to enjoy a life of being socially invisible, was now thrusted into a spotlight that she never wanted any part of.

Of course, the rest of the extended Loud family, when word of what Lori had concluded gotten around, wouldn't let things slide. Many of the adult Loud sisters now wanted nothing to do with their youngest sibling. Lily's various nieces and nephews were now permanently upset with her, Dawn most of all for reasons that should be obvious. Even Carlitos, who had been a loving and faithful fiancé to Lily ever since the two of them got engaged to each other, was so disgusted with Lily that he called the engagement off and broke up with her, moving back to Great Lakes City to assist his immediate family with whatever.

Lily, with tears running down the sides of her face, screamed that she had nothing to do with any of what had been going on involving the truth about Dawn getting out. But the youngest of the Casagrande siblings, further disgusted by his now ex-fiancé because she was clearly lying, would hear none of her arguments. The last that anyone in the whole of the extended Loud family had heard of Carlitos, Bobby had heard that Carlitos, after getting a relatively well-paying job as a realtor, met a new girl, this one being a Korean girl name Choon-Hee. The two of them had hit it off, and are now currently dating as boyfriend and girlfriend (Carlitos, due to his past with Lily, was hesitant to try getting engaged right away).

The youngest adult Loud sibling, hearing that her ex-fiancé was now already with another girl, was fit to break down into tears. The other adult Loud siblings, despite how some of them such as Lincoln, Lucy and the twins, couldn't help but feel sorry for Lily, felt that she had this coming after all of the irreversible damage that she had caused by doing what she did after finding out the truth about Dawn.

There was just no truly forgiving the youngest adult Loud sibling for what she had done.

Not only that, but Lily's insisting that she had nothing to do with any of what all had happened only served to throw fuel on the fire that was the resentment/disappointment that the rest of the extended family as a whole had towards Lily. It had gotten to the point that some of the more belligerent of the adult Loud sisters, such as Lynn and an especially peeved Luna, got together and made Lily admit to what she clearly had done.

The others were still upset with Lily, and a lot of them remained hesitant to have anything at all to do with her from this point moving forward. But hearing that Lily had finally admitted to the truth brought some measure of satisfaction to them, and that allowed for the youngest adult Loud sibling to receive a modicum of forgiveness from the others. Lily still wanted to say that she had nothing to do with the truth about her teenaged niece getting out, but given what all she had gone through ever since Lori drew that conclusion, Lily was resigned to the fact that she was stuck in between a rock and a hard place.

She figured that she might as well try to move on with what she still had.

* * *

It had been a week since Carlitos had broken off the engagement and left Royal Woods to go see to the needs of his immediate family over in Great Lakes City, and things were slowly on the mend, if it were possible for any of said things to mend. No one in the whole of the extended Loud family had spoken seriously with Lily ever since that day, and surprisingly enough, it was not due exclusively to their insurmountable disappointment in the youngest adult Loud sibling.

Lola, as she had been known trying to do as of late, was attempting to get pregnant so that she could become a mother; Winston, for his part, was actually more exhausted than happy with all of the 'special attention' that he had been getting from his wife as a result. Lucy had taken to focusing on some of her writing again, checking up on little Randy whenever he got fussy. Lana and Skippy were still doing well with the car maintenance business that they had going. It was a bit touch and go at one point, but they were able to pull through.

Lisa and David refocused their attention on the laboratory where they worked. Lincoln had been put onto a team to help brainstorm ideas for the latest video game their company was developing while Ronnie Anne remained at home with the kids. Lynn attended to her job as a PE teacher at the local elementary school while Ulfric continued to play for the professional football them that he had been drafted onto.

Luna and Sam, after enough heat from the obvious scandal died down, went back on tour; surprisingly enough, there was a slight bump in the number of fans who came to their concerts. Leni stayed at home with Asagi while Aggro continued focusing on his family's restaurant. As for Lori, she stayed at home with her children while Bobby managed the empire of businesses that had been left to him by his grandfather very shortly before the remaining Casagrandes had to return to Great Lakes City because of medical needs that CJ was facing, hence why Carlitos had to go back there himself after he had stayed behind originally.

…But none of this covers what Dawn had been going through ever since the scandal had first broken out…

…

Now that people all over not only knew that she existed, but why exactly she existed, Dawn had taken to being something of a recluse, staying inside and not going out whenever she can afford to not have to face the outside world for whatever reason. It was the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl's hope that, maybe one day, the world will eventually forget about her as well as the story that was connected to her name, her history.

Lori and Bobby, who naturally became concerned with how their teenaged niece was shutting herself away, decided that the subject had to be approached really soon. That day came when Lori, while Bobby was off taking care of what was left to him by his late grandfather, knocked on Dawn's bedroom door. "…Dawn?" the Santiago woman said in a concerned, tentative tone after she had knocked on the door, "…Sweetie? Are you doing okay?" After there was no sort of answer for a few seconds, Lori felt justified to just straight up open the door and check up on her teenaged niece that way.

It was to Lori's relief that she saw the reason why Dawn didn't answer was because she had a pair of headphones on due to listening to music. The fifteen-year-old Sharp girl had seen her aunt open the door, so she paused her music, removed her headphones and looked over. "What do you need, Aunt Lori?" Dawn asked, her tone sounding with a mild hint of bitterness. This was pretty much expected, given that she had been betrayed by a member of the family who she was under the impression she could trust.

The Santiago woman recognized that bitterness right away, recognized it for what it was. She understood that the fifteen-year-old Sharp girl would be feeling such a way, given what had taken place not all that long ago. Lori did not know what to say, and by the time that an idea of what she could tell Dawn to try to reassure her, to try and make her feel better, Dawn spoke to say something that caught Lori by surprise.

"I never should have gone out that day to try and find out the truth."

"Pardon?" Lori replied, caught off guard by Dawn's sudden remark.

The teen girl turned her attention to face her aunt, give her a serious look. "…If I hadn't gone out that day," Dawn began, "If I never had that desire to learn the truth about my birth, then it would have remained a secret." Tears began to well up in the corners of Dawn's eyes as she started to feel a bit overwhelmed with what all had happened to her over the last couple of months. "…If I had not gone to the lab where Aunt Lisa and Uncle David, then that test wouldn't ever have taken place," the teen girl went on, "Then they wouldn't have gotten that info, then it wouldn't have gotten into that one file that-"

Dawn was cut off suddenly when Lori came up to her and wrapped her arms around her, dragging her into a hug. "…I am so sorry, Dawn," the Santiago woman apologized as she went on hugging her teenaged niece, "I know it's not enough, and I literally don't have the words to properly express it, but I am so very sorry that all of what had happened occurred in the first place. No one, you most of all, should ever have gone through all of that mess."

Dawn, overwhelmed by all the support that she was being shown despite what all had happened to her, could no longer hold back the tears. Allowing her emotions to flow freely, Dawn began to softly cry into her oldest aunt's left shoulder, all the while Lori patted her on the back while saying that everything was going to be okay. Lori said that despite knowing full well that things were never going to truly be okay ever again. Even so, the Santiago woman felt compelled to say something, do something for the troubled Sharp teen.

It's what family is supposed to do.

END

Author's notes:

And with this, the third story in Dawn's saga has been brought to an end. Yes, I know that there was a lot of emotions running high here, yes, I know that a lot of unfavorable things have taken place, and yes, I know that some (if not a lot) of what had happened here may strike a nerve with some people. However, it's rather necessary to help build up the setting for the next story in this series revolving around Dawn.

It'll also be the last story in Dawn's saga, so I am going to try to wrap things up for her. Said story will see enough time to have passed for Dawn to transition into adulthood, and that in and of itself will bring a whole new set of trials for the teenaged Sharp girl to face, even without the nature of her heritage. Even so, I will try to bring Dawn's saga to a quiet and respectful end, so try to keep an eye out for 'The Dawn of Kotaro' in the future.


End file.
